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THE     WORKS     OF 

JAMES    FENIMORE    COOPER 

Last  of  the  Mohicans 

Or 
Jl  Narrative  of  1757 

/  °\  /2  ? 

■  I1 . 

■ 

COLONIAL    PRESS    COMPANY 

BOSTON    and    tKEW    YORK 

LIST   OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


THE   LAST   OF   THE   MOHICANS 

PAGE 

In  this  ceisis  Hawkeye Frontispiece 

Photogravure  from  drawing  by  J.  W.  Ferguson  Kennedy 

Then  you  must  have  lost  your  eyesight  afore  losing 

YOUR   WAY 43 

Photogravure  from  Barley  steel  plate 

Placing  Alice  on  the  same  animal  with  Cora  .       .     226 
Photogravure  from  Darley  steel  plate 


.Qi  Q-fl  *?**) 


INTRODUCTION. 


It  is  believed  that  the  scene  of  this  tale,  and  most  of  the 
information  necessary  to  understand  its  allusions,  are  ren- 
dered sufficiently  obvious  to  the  reader  in  the  text  itself,  or  in 
the  accompanying  notes.  Still  there  is  so  much  obscurity 
in  the  Indian  traditions,  and  so  much  confusion  in  the  In- 
dian names,  as  to  render  some  explanation  useful. 

Few  men  exhibit  greater  diversity,  or,  if  we  may  so  ex- 
press it,  greater  antithesis  of  character,  than  the  native 
warrior  of  North  America.  In  war,  he  is  daring,  boastful, 
cunning,  ruthless,  self-denying,  and  self-devoted;  in  peace, 
just,  generous,  hospitable,  revengeful,  superstitious,  modest, 
and  commonly  chaste.  These  are  qualities,  it  is  true,  which 
do  not  distinguish  all  alike ;  but  they  are  so  far  the  predom- 
inating traits  of  these  remarkable  people,  as  to  be  character- 
istic. 

It  is  generally  b$ll$?e<i  that  the  Aborigines  of  the  Ameri- 
can continent  hav'i  an  Asiatic  origin.  There  are  many 
physical  as  well  as  2:oral  facts  which  corroborate  this  opin- 
ion, and  some  few  that  would  seem  to  weigh  against  it. 

The  color  of  the  Indian,  the  writer  believes,  is  peculiar  to 
himself;  and  while  his  cheek-bones  have  a  very  striking  in- 
dication of  a  Tartar  origin,  his  eyes  have  not.  Climate  may 
have  had  great  influence  on  the  former,  but  it  is  difficult  to 
see  how  it  can  have  produced  the  substantial  difference 
which  exists  in  the  latter.  The  imagery  of  the  Indian,  both 
in  his  poetry  and  his  oratory,  is  Oriental, — chastened,  and 
perhaps  improved,  by  the  limited  range  of  his  practical 
knowledge.     He  draws  his  metaphors  from  the  clouds,  the 


6  INTRODUCTION. 

seasons,  the  birds,  the  beasts,  and  the  vegetable  world.  In 
this,  perhaps,  he  does  no  more  than  any  other  energetic  and 
imaginative  race  would  do,  being  compelled  to  set  bounds 
to  fancy  by  experience;  but  the  North  American  Indian 
clothes  his  ideas  in  a  dress  which  is  different  from  that  of 
the  African,  and  is  Oriental  in  itself  His  language  has 
the  richness  and  sententious  fulness  of  the  Chinese.  He 
will  express  a  phrase  in  a  word,  and  he  will  qualify  the 
meaning  of  an  entire  sentence  by  a  syllable;  he  will  even 
convey  different  significations  by  the  simplest  inflections  of 
the  voice. 

Philologists  have  said  that  there  are  but  two  or  three  lan- 
guages, properly  speaking,  among  all  the  numerous  tribes 
which  formerly  occupied  the  country  that  now  composes  the 
United  States,  They  ascribe  the  known  difficulty  one  peo- 
ple have  in  understanding  another  to  corruptions  and  dia- 
lects. The  writer  remembers  to  have  been  present  at  an 
interview  between  two  chiefs  of  the  Great  Prairies  west  of 
the  Mississippi,  and  when  an  interpreter  was  in  attendance 
who  spoke  both  their  languages.  The  warriors  appeared  to 
be  on  the  most  friendly  terms,  and  seemingly  conversed 
much  together ;  yet,  according  to  the  account  of  the  inter- 
preter, each  was  absolutely  ignorant  of  what  the  other  said. 
They  were  of  hostile  tribes,  brought  together  by  the  influ- 
ence of  the  American  Government,  and  it  is  worthy  of  re- 
mark, that  a  common  policy  led  them  both  to  adopt  the 
same  subject.  They  mutually  exhorted  each  other  to  be  of 
use  in  the  event  of  the  chances  of  ?war  throwing  either  of 
the  parties  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies.  Whatever  may- 
be the  truth,  as  respects  the  root  and  the  genius  of  the 
Indian  tongues,  it  is  quite  certain  they  are  now  so  distinct 
in  their  words  as  to  possess  most  of  the  disadvantages  of 
strange  languages;  hence  much  of  the  embarrassment  that 
has  arisen  in  learning  their  histories,  and  most  of  the  uncer- 
tainty which  exists  in  their  traditions. 

Like  nations  of  higher  pretensions,  the  American  Indian 


INTRODUCTION.  7 

gives  a  very  different  account  of  his  own  tribe  or  race  from 
that  which  is  given  by  other  people.  He  is  much  addicted 
to  over  estimating  his  own  perfections,  and  to  undervaluing 
those  of  his  rival  or  his  enemy;  a  trait  which  may  possibly 
be  thought  corroborative  of  the  Mosaic  account  of  the  crea- 
tion. 

The  Whites  have  assisted  greatly  in  rendering  the  tradi- 
tions of  the  Aborigines  more  obscure  by  their  own  manner 
of  corrupting  names.  Thus,  the  term  used  in  the  title  of 
this  book  has  undergone  the  changes  of  Mahicanni,  Mohi- 
cans, and  Mohegans;  the  latter  being  the  word  commonly 
used  by  the  Whites.  When  it  is  remembered  that  the  Dutch 
(who  first  settled  New  York),  the  English,  and  the  French, 
all  gave  appellations  to  the  tribes  that  dwelt  within  the 
country  which  is  the  scene  of  this  story,  and  that  the  Indians 
not  only  gave  different  names  to  their  enemies,  but  fre- 
quently to  themselves,  the  cause  of  the  confusion  will  be 
understood. 

In  these  pages,  Lenni-Lenape,  Lenope,  Delawares,  Wa- 
panachki,  and  Mohicans,  all  mean  the  same  people,  or  tribes 
of  the  same  stock.  The  Menge,  the  Maquas,  the  Mingoes, 
and  the  Iroquois,  though  not  all  strictly  the  same,  are  iden- 
tified frequently  by  the  speakers,  being  politically  confede- 
rated and  opposed  to  those  just  named.  Mingo  was  a  term 
of  peculiar  reproach,  as  were  Mengwe  and  Maqua  in  a  less 
degree. 

The  Mohicans  were  the  possessors  of  the  country  first 
occupied  by  the  Europeans  in  this  portion  of  the  continent. 
They  were,  consequently,  the  first  dispossessed;  and  the 
seemingly  inevitable  fate  of  all  these  people,  who  disappear 
before  the  advances,  or  it  might  be  termed  the  inroads  of 
civilization,  as  the  verdure  of  their  native  forests  falls  be- 
fore the  nipping  frost,  is  represented  as  having  already 
befallen  them.  There  is  sufficient  historical  truth  in  the 
picture  to  justify  the  use  that  has  been  made  of  it. 

In  point  of  fact,  the  country  which  is  the  scene  of  the  fol- 


8  INTRODUCTION. 

lowing  tale  has  undergone  as  little  change,  since  the  histor- 
ical events  alluded  to  had  place,  as  almost  any  other 
district  of  equal  extent  within  the  whole  limits  of  the 
United  States.  There  are  fashionable  and  well-attended 
watering-places  at  and  near  the  spring  where  Hawk-eye 
halted  to  drink,  and  roads  traverse  the  forests  where  he  and 
his  friends  were  compelled  to  journey  without  even  a  path. 
Glenn's  has  a  large  village;  and  while  William  Henry,  and 
even  a  fortress  of  later  date,  are  only  to  be  traced  as  ruins, 
there  is  another  village  on  the  shores  of  the  Horican.  But, 
beyond  this,  the  enterprise  and  energy  of  a  people  who  have 
done  so  much  in  other  places  have  done  little  here.  The 
whole  of  that  wilderness,  in  which  the  latter  incidents  of 
the  legend  occurred,  is  nearly  a  wilderness  still,  though  the 
red  man  has  entirely  deserted  this  part  of  the  State.  Of  all 
the  tribes  named  in  these  pages,  there  exist  only  a  few  half- 
civilized  beings  of  the  Oneidas,  on  the  reservations  of  their 
people  in  New  York.  The  rest  have  disappeared,  either 
from  the  regions  in  which  their  fathers  dwelt,  or  altogether 
from  the  earth. 

There  is  one  point  on  which  we  would  wish  to  say  a  word 
before  closing  this  preface.  Hawk-eye  calls  the  Lac  du 
Saint  Sacrement,  the  "  Horican."  As  we  believe  this  to  be 
an  appropriation  of  the  name  that  has  its  origin  with  our- 
selves, the  time  has  arrived,  perhaps,  when  the  fact  should 
be  frankly  admitted.  While  writing  this  book,  fully  a 
quarter  of  a  century  since,  it  occurred  to  us  that  the  French 
name  of  this  lake  was  too  complicated,  the  American  too 
commonplace,  and  the  Indian  too  unpronounceable,  for 
either  to  be  used  familiarly  in  a  work  of  fiction.  Looking 
over  an  ancient  map,  it  was  ascertained  that  a  tribe  of  In- 
dians, called  "  Les  Horicans  "  by  the  French,  existed  in  the 
neighborhood  of  this  beautiful  sheet  of  water.  As  every 
word  uttered  by  Natty  Bumppo  was  not  to  be  received  as 
rigid  truth,  we  took  the  liberty  of  putting  the  "  Horican  " 
into  his  mouth,  as  the  substitute  for  "  Lake  George."     The 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

name  has  appeared  to  find  favor,  and  all  things  considered, 
it  may  possibly  be  quite  as  well  to  let  it  stand,  instead  of 
going  back  to  the  House  of  Hanover  for  the  appellation  of 
our  finest  sheet  of  water.  We  relieve  our  conscience  by  the 
confession,  at  all  events,  leaving  it  to  exercise  its  authority 
as  it  may  see  fit. 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 


CHAPTER  I. 


Mine  ear  is  open,  and  my  heart  prepared  : 
The  worst  is  worldly  loss  thou  canst  unfold: — 
Say,  is  my  kingdom  lost  ? 

Shakespeare. 

It  was  a  feature  peculiar  to  the  colonial  wars  of  North 
America,  that  the  toils  and  dangers  of  the  wilderness  were 
to  be  encountered  before  the  adverse  hosts  could  meet.  A 
wide  and  apparently  an  impervious  boundary  of  forests  sev- 
ered the  possessions  of  the  hostile  provinces  of  France  and 
England.  The  hardy  colonist,  and  the  trained  European 
who  fought  at  his  side,  frequently  expended  months  in 
struggling  against  the  rapids  of  the  streams,  or  in  effecting 
the  rugged  passes  of  the  mountains,  in  quest  of  an  opportu- 
nity to  exhibit  their  courage  in  a  more  martial  conflict.  But, 
emulating  the  patience  and  self-denial  of  the  practised  na- 
tive warriors,  they  learned  to  overcome  every  difficulty;  and 
it  would  seem  that,  in  time,  there  was  no  recess  of  the  woods 
so  dark,  nor  any  secret  place  so  lovely,  that  it  might  claim 
exemption  from  the  inroads  of  those  who  had  pledged  their 
blood  to  satiate  their  vengeance,  or  to  uphold  the  cold  and 
selfish  policy  of  the  distant  monarchs  of  Europe. 

Perhaps  no  district  throughout  the  wide  extent  of  the 
intermediate  frontiers  can  furnish  a  livelier  picture  of  the 
cruelty  and  fierceness  of  the  savage  warfare  of  those  periods 
than  the  country  which  lies  between  the  head-waters  of  the 
Hudson  and  the  adjacent  lakes. 


12  THE   LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

The  facilities  which  nature  had  there  offered  to  the  march 
of  the  combatants  were  too  obvious  to  be  neglected.  The 
lengthened  sheet  of  the  Champlain  stretched  from  the  fron- 
tiers of  Canada,  deep  within  the  borders  of  the  neighboring 
province  of  New  York,  forming  a  natural  passage  across  half 
the  distance  that  the  French  were  compelled  to  master  in 
order  to  strike  their  enemies.  Near  its  southern  termina- 
tion, it  received  the  contributions  of  another  lake,  whose 
waters  were  so  limpid  as  to  have  been  exclusively  selected 
by  the  Jesuit  missionaries  to  perform  the, typical  purifica- 
tion of  baptism,  and  to  obtain  for  it  the  title  of  lake  "  du 
.  Saint  Sacre.ment."  The  less  zealous  English  thought  they 
conferred  a  sufficient  honor  on  its  unsullied  fountains,  when 
they  bestowed  the  name  of  their  reigning  prince,  the  second 
of  the  house  of  Hanover.  The  two  united  to  rob  the  untu- 
tored possessors  of  its  wooded  scenery  of  their  native  right 
to  perpetuate  its  original  appellation  of  "  Horican."  * 

Winding  its  way  among  countless  islands,  and  embedded 
in  mountains,  the  "  holy  lake "  extended  a  dozen  leagues 
still  further  to  the  south.  With  the  high  plain  that  there 
interposed  itself  to  the  further  passage  of  the  water,  com- 
menced a  portage  of  as  many  miles,  which  conducted  the 
adventurer  to  the  banks  of  the  Hudson,  at  a  point  where, 
with  the  usual  obstructions  of  the  rapids,  or  rifts,  as  they 
were  then  termed  in  the  language  of  the  country,  the  river 
became  navigable  to  the  tide. 

While,  in  the  pursuit  of  their  daring  plans  of  annoy- 
ance, the  restless  enterprise  of  the  French  even  attempted 
the  distant  and  difficult  gorges  of  the  Alleghany,  it  may 
easily  be  imagined  that  their  proverbial  acuteness  would  not 
overlook  the  natural  advantages  of  the  district  we  have  just 

*  As  each  nation  of  the  Indians  had  either  its  language  or  its  dialect,  they  usually 
gave  different  names  to  the  same  place,  though  nearly  all  of  their  appellations  were 
descriptive  of  the  object.  Thus,  a  literal  translation  of  the  name  of  this  beautiful 
sheet  of  water,  used  by  the  tribe  that  dwelt  on  its  banks,  would  be  "The  Tail  of  the 
Lake."  Lake  George,  as  it  is  vulgarly,  and  now  indeed  legally,  called,  forms  a  sort  of 
tail  to  Lake  Champlain,  when  viewed  on  the  map.     Hence  the  name. 


THE   LAST   OF    THE    MOHICANS.  13 

described.  It  became,  emphatically,  the  bloody  arena,  in 
which  most  of  the  battles  for  the  mastery  of  the  colonies 
were  contested. .  Forts  were  erected  at  the  different  points 
that  commanded  the  facilities  of  the  route,  and  were  taken 
and  retaken,  razed  and  rebuilt,  as  victory  alighted  on  the 
hostile  banners.  While  the  husbandman  shrank  back  from 
the  dangerous  passes,  within  the  safer  boundaries  of  the 
more  ancient  settlements,- armies  larger  than  those  that  had 
often  disposed  of  the  sceptres  of  the  mother  countries  were 
seen  to  bury  themselves  in  these  forests,  whence  they  rarely 
returned  but  in  skeleton  bands,  that  were  haggard  with  care, 
or  dejected  by  defeat.  Though  the  arts  of  peace  were  un- 
known to  this  fatal  region,  its  forests  were  alive  with  men; 
its  shades  and  glens  rang  with  the  sounds  of  martial  music, 
and  the  echoes  of  its  mountains  threw  back  the  laugh,  or 
repeated  the  wanton  cry,  of  many  a  gallant  and  reckless 
youth,  as  he  hurried  by  them,  in  the  noontide  of  his  spirits, 
to  slumber  in  a  long  night  of  forgetfulness. 

It  was  in  this  scene  of  strife  and  bloodshed  that  the  inci- 
dents we  shall  attempt  to  relate  occurred,  during  the  third 
year  of  the  war  which  England  and  France  last  waged  for 
the  possession  of  a  country  that  neither  was  destined  to  re- 
tain. 

The  imbecility  of  her  military  leaders  abroad,  and  the 
fatal  want  of  energy  in  her  councils  at  home,  had  lowered 
the  character  of  Great  Britain  from  the  proud  elevation  on 
which  it  had  been  placed  by  the  talents  and  enterprise  of 
her  former  warriors  and  statesmen.  No  longer  dreaded  by 
her  enemies,  her  servants  were  fast  losing  the  confidence  of 
self-respect.  In  this  mortifying  abasement,  the  colonists, 
though  innocent  of  her  imbecility,  and  too  humble  to  be  the 
agents  of  her  blunders,  were  but  the  natural  participators. 
They  had  recently  seen  a  chosen  army  from  that  country, 
which,  reverencing  as  a  mother,  they  had  blindly  believed 
invincible — an  army  led  by  a  chief  who  had  been  selected 
from  a  crowd  of  trained  warriors,  for  his  rare  military  en- 


14  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

dowments,  disgracefully  routed  by  a  handful  of  French  and 
Indians,  and  only  saved  from  annihilation  by  the  coolness 
and  spirit  of  a  Virginian  boy,  whose  riper  fame  has  since 
diffused  itself,  with  the  steady  influence  of  moral  truth,  to 
the  uttermost  confines  of  Christendom.*  A  wide  frontier 
had  been  laid  naked  by  this  unexpected  disaster,  and  more 
substantial  evils  were  preceded  by  a  thousand  fanciful  and 
imaginary  dangers.  The  alarmed  colonists  believed  that 
the  yells  of  the  savages  mingled  with  every  fitful  gust  of 
wind  that  issued  from  the  interminable  forests  cf  the  west. 
The  terrific  character  of  their  merciless  enemies  increased 
immeasurably  the  natural  horrors  of  warfare.  Numberless 
recent  massacres  were  still  vivid  in  their  recollections;  nor 
was  there  any  ear  in  the  provinces  so  deaf  as  not  to  have 
drunk  in  with  avidity  the  narrative  of  some  fearful  tale  of 
midnight  murder,  in  which  the  natives  of  the  forests  were 
the  principal  and  barbarous  actors.  As  the  credulous  and 
excited  traveller  related  the  hazardous  chances  of  the  wil- 
derness, the  blood  of  the  timid  curdled  with  terror,  and 
mothers  cast  anxious  glances  even  at  those  children  which 
slumbered  within  the  security  of  the  largest  towns.  In 
short,  the  magnifying  influence  of  fear  began  to  set  at 
naught  the  calculations  of  reason,  and  to  render  those  who 
should  have  remembered  their  manhood  the  slaves  of  the 
basest  of  passions.  Even  the  most  confident  and  the  stout- 
est hearts  began  to  think  the  issue  of  the  contest  was  becom- 
ing doubtful;  and  that  abject  class  was  hourly  increasing 
in  numbers,  who  thought  they  foresaw  all  the  possessions  of 
the  English  crown  in  America  subdued  by  their  Christian 
foes,  or  laid  waste  by  the  inroads  of  their  relentless  allies. 

*  Washington  :  who,  after  uselessly  admonishing  the  European  general  of  the  danger 
into  which  he  was  heedlessly  running,  saved  the  remnants  of  the  British  army,  on  this 
occasion,  by  his  decision  and  courage.  The  reputation  earned  by  Washington  in  this 
battle  was  the  principal  cause  of  his  being  selected  to  command  the  American  armies 
at  a  later  day.  It  is  a  circumstance  worthy  of  observation,  that,  while  all  America 
rang  with  his  well-merited  reputation,  his  name  does  not  occur  in  any  European  ac- 
count of  the  battle  ;  at  least,  the  author  has  searched  for  it  without  success.  In  this 
manner  dews  the  mother  country  absorb  even  the  fame,  under  that  system  of  rule. 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  1 5 

When,  therefore,  intelligence  was  received  at  the  fort 
which  covered  the  southern  termination  of  the  portage  be- 
tween the  Hudson  and  the  lakes,  that  Montcalm  had  been 
seen  moving  up  the  Champlain,  with  an  army  "  numerous  as 
the  leaves  on  the  trees,"  its  truth  was  admitted  with  more  of 
the  craven  reluctance  of  fear  than  with  the  stern  joy  that  a 
warrior  should  feel,  in  finding  an  enemy  within  reach  of  his 
blow.  The  news  had  been  brought,  toward  the  decline  of  a 
day  in  midsummer,  by  an  Indian  runner,  who  also  bore  an 
urgent  request  from  Munro,  the  commander  of  a  work  on  the 
shore  of  the  "  holy  lake,"  for  a  speedy  and  powerful  rein- 
forcement. It  has  already  been  mentioned  that  the  distance 
between  these  two  posts  was  less  than  five  leagues.  The 
rude  path,  which  originally  formed  their  line  of  communi- 
cation, had  been  widened  for  the  passage  of  wagons ;  so  that 
the  distance  which  had  been  travelled  by  the  son  of  the  for- 
est in  two  hours,  might  easily  be  effected  by  a  detachment 
of  troops,  with  their  necessary  baggage,  between  the  rising 
and  setting  of  a  summer  sun.  The  loyal  servants  of  the 
British  crown  had  given  to  one  of  these  forest  fastnesses  the 
name  of  William  Henry,  and  to  the  other  that  of  Fort  Ed- 
ward; calling  each  after  a  favorite  prince  of  the  reigning 
family.  The  veteran  Scotchman  just  named  held  the  first, 
with  a  regiment  of  regulars  and  a  few  provincials;  a  force 
really  by  far  too  small  to  make  head  against  the  formidable 
power  that  Montcalm  was  leading  to  the  foot  of  his  earthen 
mounds.  At  the  latter,  however,  lay  General  Webb,  who 
commanded  the  armies  of  the  king  in  the  northern  prov- 
inces, with  a  body  of  more  than  five  thousand  men.  By 
uniting  the  several  detachments  of  his  command,  this  officer 
might  have  arrayed  nearly  double  that  number  of  comba- 
tants against  the  enterprising  Frenchman,  who  had  ventured 
so  far  from  his  reinforcements,  with  an  army  but  little  supe 
rior  in  numbers. 

But,  under  the  influence  of  their  degraded  fortunes,  both 
officers  and  men  appeared  better  disposed  to  await  the  ap- 


1 6  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

proach  of  their  formidable  antagonists,  within  their  works, 
than  to  resist  the  progress  of  their  march,  by  emulating  the 
successful  example  of  the  French  at  Fort  du  Quesne,  and 
striking  a  blow  on  their  advance. 

After  the  first  surprise  of  the  intelligence  had  a  little 
abated,  a  rumor  was  spread  through  the  entrenched  camp, 
which  stretched  along  the  margin  of  the  Hudson,  forming 
a  chain  of  outworks  to  the  body  of  the  fort  itself,  that  a 
chosen  detachment  of  fifteen  hundred  men  was  to  depart, 
with  the  dawn,  for  William  Henry,  the  post  at  the  northern 
extremity  of  the  portage.  That  which  at  first  was  only  ru- 
mor soon  became  certainty,  as  orders  passed  from  the  quar- 
ters of  the  commander-in-chief  to  the  several  corps  he  had 
selected  for  this  service,  to  prepare  for  their  speedy  depar- 
ture. All  doubt  as  to  the  intention  of  Webb  now  vanished, 
and  an  hour  or  two  of  hurried  footsteps  and  anxious  faces 
succeeded.  The  novice  in  the  military  art  flew  from  point 
to  point,  retarding  his  own  preparations  by  the  excess  of 
his  violent  and  somewhat  distempered  zeal;  while  the  more 
practised  veteran  made  his  arrangements  with  a  delibera- 
tion that  scorned  every  appearance  of  haste ;  though  his  so- 
ber lineaments  and  anxious  eye  sufficiently  betrayed  that  he 
had  no  very  strong  professional  relish  for  the,  as  yet,  un- 
tried and  dreaded  warfare  of  the  wilderness.  At  length  the 
sun  set  in  a  flood  of  glory,  behind  the  distant  western  hills, 
and  as  darkness  drew  its  veil  around  the  secluded  spot  the 
sounds  of  preparation  diminished;  the  last  light  finally  dis- 
appeared from  the  log  cabin  of  some  officer;  the  trees  cast 
their  deeper  shadows  over  the  mounds  and  the  rippling 
stream,  and  a  silence  soon  pervaded  the  camp,  as  deep  as 
that  which  reigned  in  the  vast  forest  by  which  it  was  envi- 
roned. 

According  to  the  orders  of  the  preceding  night,  the  heavy 
sleep  of  the  army  was  broken  by  the  rolling  of  the  warning 
drums,  whose  rattling  echoes  were  heard  issuing,  on  the 
damp  morning  air,  out  of  every  vista  of  the  woods,  just  as 


THE   LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  1 7 

day  began  to  draw  the  shaggy  outlines  of  some  tall  pines  of 
the  vicinity,  on  the  opening  brightness  of  a  soft  and  cloud- 
less eastern  sky.  In  an  instant  the  whole  camp  was  in 
motion ;  the  meanest  soldier  arousing  from  his  lair  to  wit- 
ness the  departure  of  his  comrades,  and  to  share  in  the  ex- 
citement and  incidents  of  the  hour.  The  simple  array  of 
the  chosen  band  was  soon  completed.  While  the  regular 
and  trained  hirelings  of  the  king  marched  with  haughtiness 
to  the  right  of  the  line,  the  less  pretending  colonists  took 
their  humbler  position  on  its  left,  with  a  docility  that  long 
practice  had  rendered  easy.  The  scouts  departed;  strong 
guards  preceded  and  followed  the  lumbering  vehicles  that 
bore  the  baggage;  and  before  the  gray  light  of  the  morning 
was  mellowed  by  the  rays  of  the  sun,  the  main  body  of  the 
combatants  wheeled  into  column,  and  left  the  encampment 
with  a  show  of  high  military  bearing,  that  served  to  drown 
the  slumbering  apprehensions  of  many  a  novice,  who  was 
now  about  to  make  his  first  essay  in  arms.  While  in  view 
of  their  admiring  comrades,  the  same  proud  front  and 
ordered  array  was  observed,  until,  the  notes  of  their  fifes 
growing  fainter  in  distance,  the  forest  at  length  appeared  to 
swallow  up  the  living  mass  which  had  slowly  entered  its 
bosom. 

The  deepest  sounds  of  the  retiring  and  invisible  column 
had  ceased  to  be  born  on  the  breeze  to  the  listeners,  and 
the  latest  straggler  had  already  disappeared  in  pursuit;  but 
there  still  remained  the  signs  of  another  departure,  before  a 
log  cabin  of  unusual  size  and  accommodations,  in  front  of 
which  those  sentinels  paced  their  rounds,  who  were  known 
to  guard  the  person  of  the  English  general.  At  this  spot 
were  gathered  some  half-dozen  horses,  caparisoned  in  a 
manner  which  showed  that  two,  at  least,  were  destined  to 
bear  the  persons  of  females,  of  a  rank  that  it  was  not  usual 
to  meet  so  far  in  the  wilds  of  the  country.  A  third  wore 
the  trappings  and  arms  of  an  officer  of  the  staff;  while  the 
rest,  from  the  plainness  of  the  housings,  and  the  travelling 
3 


1 8  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

mails  with  which  they  were  encumbered,  were  evidently 
fitted  for  the  reception  of  as  many  menials,  who  were,  seem- 
ingly, already  awaiting  the  pleasure  of  those  they  served. 
At  a  respectful  distance  from  this  unusual  show,  were  gath- 
ered divers  groups  of  curious  idlers;  some  admiring  the 
blood  and  bone  of  the  high-mettled  military  charger,  and 
others  gazing  at  the  preparations,  with  the  dull  wonder  of 
vulgar  curiosity.  There  was  one  man,  however,  who,  by 
his  countenance  and  actions,  formed  a  marked  exception  to 
those  who  composed  the  latter  class  of  spectators,  being 
neither  idle,  nor  seemingly  very  ignorant. 

The  person  of  this  individual  was  to  the  last  degree  un- 
gainly without  being  in  any  particular  manner  deformed. 
He  had  all  the  bones  and  joints  of  other  men,  without  any 
of  their  proportions.  Erect,  his  stature  surpassed  that  of 
his  fellows;  though,  seated,  he  appeared  reduced  within  the 
ordinary  limits  of  the  race.  The  same  contrariety  in  his 
members  seemed  to  exist  throughout  the  whole  man.  His 
head  was  large;  his  shoulders  narrow;  his  arms  long  and 
dangling;  while  his  hands  were  small,  if  not  delicate.  His 
legs  and  thighs  were  thin,  nearly  to  emaciation,  but  of  extraor- 
dinary length;  and  his  knees  would  have  been  considered 
tremendous,  had  they  not  been  outdone  by  the  broader  foun- 
dations on  which  this  false  superstructure  of  blended  human 
orders  was  so  profanely  reared.  The  ill-assorted  and  inju- 
dicious attire  of  the  individual  only  served  to  render  his 
awkwardness  more  conspicuous.  A  sky-blue  coat,  with 
short  and  broad  skirts  and  low  cape,  exposed  a  long  thin 
neck,  and  longer  and  thinner  legs,  to  the  worst  animadver- 
sions of  the  evil-disposed.  His  nether  garment  was  of  yel- 
low nankeen,  closely  fitted  to  the  shape,  and  tied  at  his 
bunches  of  knees  by  large  knots  of  white  ribbon,  a  good 
deal  sullied  by  use.  Clouded  cotton  stockings,  and  shoes, 
on  one  of  the  latter  of  which  was  a  plated  spur,  completed 
the  costume  of  the  lower  extremity  of  this  figure,  no  curve 
or  angle  of  which  was  concealed,  but,  on   the  other  hand, 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  1 9 

Studiously  exhibited,  through  the  vanity  or  simplicity  of  its 
owner.  From  beneath  the  flap  of  an  enormous  pocket  of  a 
soiled  vest  of  embossed  silk,  heavily  ornamented  with  tar- 
nished silver  lace,  projected  an  instrument,  which,  from 
being  seen  in  such  martial  company,  might  have  been  easily 
mistaken  for  some  mischievous  and  unknown  implement  of 
war.  Small  as  it  was,  this  uncommon  engine  had  excited 
the  curiosity  of  most  of  the  Europeans  in  the  camp,  though 
several  of  the  provincials  were  seen  to  handle  it,  not  only 
without  fear,  but  with  the  utmost  familiarity.  A  large,  civil 
cocked  hat,  like  those  worn  by  clergymen  within  the  last 
thirty  years,  surmounted  the  whole,  furnishing  dignity  to  a 
good-natured  and  somewhat  vacant  countenance,  that  ap- 
parently needed  such  artificial  aid  to  support  the  gravity  of 
some  high  and  extraordinary  trust. 

While  the  common  herd  stood  aloof,  in  deference  to  the 
quarters  of  Webb,  the  figure  we  have  described  stalked  into 
the  centre  of  the  domestics,  freely  expressing  his  censures 
or  commendations  on  the  merits  of  the  horses,  as  by  chance 
they  displeased  or  satisfied  his  judgment. 

"  This  beast,  I  rather  conclude,  friend,  is  not  of  home 
raising,  but  is  from  foreign  lands,  or  perhaps  from  the  little 
island  itself,  over  the  blue  water?"  he  said,  in  a  voice  as 
remarkable  for  the  softness  and  sweetness  of  its  tones,  as 
was  his  person  for  its  rare  proportions :  "  I  may  speak  of 
these  things,  and  be  no  braggart;  for  I  have  been  down  at 
both  havens;  that  which  is  situate  at  the  mouth  of  Thames, 
and  is  named  after  the  capital  of  Old  England,  and  that 
which  is  called  '  Haven,'  with  the  addition  of  the  word 
'  New';  and  have  seen  the  snows  and  brigantines  collecting 
their  droves,  like  the  gathering  to  the  ark,  being  outward 
bound  to  the  Island  of  Jamaica,  for  the  purpose  of  barter 
and  traffic  in  four-footed  animals;  but  never  before  have  I 
beheld  a  beast  which  verified  the  true  scripture  war-horse 
like  this;  'He  paweth  in  the  valley,  and  rejoiceth  in  his 
strength:  he  goeth  on  to  meet  the  armed  men.     He  saith 


20  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

among  the  trumpets,  Ha,  ha;  and  he  smelleth  the  battle  afar 
off,  the  thunder  of  the  captains,  and  the  shouting.' — It  would 
seem  that  the  stock  of  the  horse  of  Israel  has  descended  to 
our  own  time;  would  it  not,  friend?  " 

Receiving  no  reply  to  this  extraordinary  appeal,  which, 
in  truth,  as  it  was  delivered  with  the  vigor  of  full  and  sono- 
rous tones,  merited  some  sort  of  notice,  he  who  had  thus  sung 
forth  the  language  of  the  holy  book  turned  to  the  silent  fig- 
ure to  whom  he  had  unwittingly  addressed  himself,  and 
found  a  new  and  more  powerful  subject  of  admiration  in  the 
object  that  encountered  his  gaze.  His  eyes  fell  on  the  still, 
upright,  and  rigid  form  of  the  "  Indian  runner,"  who  had 
borne  to  the  camp  the  unwelcome  tidings  of  the  preceding 
evening.  Although  in  a  state  of  perfect  repose,  and  appar- 
ently disregarding,  with  characteristic  stoicism,  the  excite- 
ment and  bustle  around  him,  there  was  a  sullen  fierceness 
mingled  with  the  quiet  of  the  savage,  that  was  likely  to  ar- 
rest the  attention  of  much  more  experienced  eyes  than  those 
which  now  scanned  him,  in  unconcealed  amazement.  The 
native  bore  both  the  tomahawk  and  knife  of  his  tribe;  and 
yet  his  appearance  was  not  altogether  that  of  a  warrior.  On 
the  contrary,  there  was  an  air  of  neglect  about  his  person, 
like  that  which  might  have  proceeded  from  great  and  recent 
exertion,  which  he  had  not  yet  found  leisure  to  repair.  The 
colors  of  the  war-paint  had  blended  in  dark  confusion  about 
his  fierce  countenance,  and  rendered  his  swarthy  lineaments 
still  more  savage  and  repulsive,  than  if  art  had  attempted 
an  effect  which  had  been  thus  produced  by  chance.  His 
eye,  alone,  which  glistened  like  a  fiery  star  amid  lowering 
clouds,  was  to  be  seen  in  its  state  of  native  wildness.  For 
a  single  instant,  his  searching  and  yet  wary  glance  met  the 
wondering  look  of  the  other,  and  then  changing  its  direc- 
tion, partly  in  cunning,  and  partly  in  disdain,  it  remained 
fixed,  as  if  penetrating  the  distant  air. 

It  is  impossible  to  say  what  unlooked-for  remark  this 
short  and  silent  communication,  between  two  such  singular 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  2i 

men,  might  have  elicited  from  the  white  man,  had  not  his 
active  curiosity  been  again  drawn  to  other  objects.  A  gen- 
eral movement  amongst  the  domestics,  and  a  low  sound  of 
gentle  voices,  announced  the  approach  of  those  whose  pres- 
ence alone  was  wanted  to  enable  the  cavalcade  to  move. 
The  simple  admirer  of  the  war-horse  instantly  fell  back  to  a 
low,  gaunt,  switch-tailed  mare,  that  was  unconsciously  glean- 
ing the  faded  herbage  of  the  camp  nigh  by;  where,  leaning 
with  one  elbow  on  the  blanket  that  concealed  an  apology  for 
a  saddle,  he  became  a  spectator  of  the  departure,  while  a 
foal  was  quietly  making  its  morning  repast  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  same  animal. 

A  young  man,  in  the  dress  of  an  officer,  conducted  to 
their  steeds  two  females,  who,  as  it  was  apparent  by  their 
dresses,  were  prepared  to  encounter  the  fatigues  of  a  journey 
in  the  woods.  One,  and  she  was  the  most  juvenile  in  her 
appearance,  though  both  were  young,  permitted  glimpses 
of  her  dazzling  complexion,  fair  golden  hair,  and  bright 
blue  eyes,  to  be  caught,  as  she  artlessly  suffered  the  morning 
air  to  blow  aside  the  green  veil  which  descended  low  from 
her  beaver.  The  flush  which  still  lingered  above  the  pines 
in  the  western  sky  was  not  more  bright  nor  delicate  than 
the  bloom  on  her  cheek;  nor  was  the  opening  day  more 
cheering  than  the  animated  smile  which  she  bestowed  on 
the  youth,  as  he  assisted  her  into  the  saddle.  The  other, 
who  appeared  to  share  equally  in  the  attentions  of  the 
young  officer,  concealed  her  charms  from  the  gaze  of  the 
soldiery  with  a  care  that  seemed  better  fitted  to  the  experi- 
ence of  four  or  five  additional  years.  It  could  be  seen, 
however,  that  her  person,  though  moulded  with  the  same 
exquisite  proportions,  of  which  none  of  the  graces  were  lost 
by  the  travelling  dress  she  wore,  was  rather  fuller  and  more 
mature  than  that  of  her  companion. 

No  sooner  were  these  females  seated,  than  their  attendant 
sprang  lightly  into  the  saddle  of  the  war-horse,  when  the 
whole  three  bowed  to  Webb,  who,  in  courtesy,  awaited  their 


22  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

parting  on  the  threshold  of  his  cabin,  and  turning  their 
horses'  heads,  they  proceeded  at  a  slow  amble,  followed  by 
their  train,  toward  the  northern  entrance  of  the  encampment. 
As  they  traversed  that  short  distance,  not  a  voice  was  heard 
amongst  them;  but  a  slight  exclamation  proceeded  from  the 
younger  of  the  females,  as  the  Indian  runner  glided  by  her, 
unexpectedly,  and  led  the  way  along  the  military  road  in  her 
front.  Though  this  sudden  and  startling  movement  of  the 
Indian  produced  no  sound  from  the  other,  in  the  surprise, 
her  veil  also  was  allowed  to  open  its  folds,  and  betrayed  an 
indescribable  look  of  pity,  admiration,  and  horror,  as  her 
dark  eye  followed  the  easy  motions  of  the  savage.  The 
tresses  of  this  lady  were  shining  and  black,  like  the  plumage 
of  the  raven.  Her  complexion  was  not  brown,  but  it  rather 
appeared  charged  with  the  color  of  the  rich  blood,  that  seemed 
ready  to  burst  its  bounds.  And  yet  there  was  neither 
coarseness  nor  want  of  shadowing  in  a  countenance  that  was 
exquisitely  regular  and  dignified,  and  surpassingly  beauti- 
ful. She  smiled,  as  if  in  pity  at  her  own  momentary  forget- 
fulness,  discovering  by  the  act  a  row  of  teeth  that  would 
have  shamed  the  purest  ivory;  when,  replacing  the  veil,  she 
bowed  her  face,  and  rode  in  silence,  like  one  whose  thoughts 
were  abstracted  from  the  scene  around  her. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Sola,  sola,  wo  ha,  ho,  sola  ! 


SHAKESPEARE. 


While  one  of  the  lovely  beings  we  have  so  cursorily  pre- 
sented to  the  reader  was  thus  lost  in  thought,  the  other 
quickly  recovered  from  the  alarm  which  induced  the  ex- 
clamation, and,  laughing  at  her  own  weakness,  she  inquired 
of  the  youth  who  rode  by  her  side — 

"Are  such  spectres  frequent  in  the  woods,  Hevward;  or 
is  this  sight  an  especial  entertainment  ordered  on  our  behalf  ? 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  23 

If  the  latter,  gratitude  must  close  our  mouths;  but  if  the 
former,  both  Cpra  and  I  shall  have  need  to  draw  largely  on 
that  stock  of  hereditary  courage  which  we  boast,  even  before 
we  are  made  to  encounter  the  redoubtable  Montcalm." 

"Yon  Indian  is  a 'runner 'of  the  army;  and,  after  the 
fashion  of  his  people,  he  may  be  accounted  a  hero,"  re- 
turned the  officer.  "  He  has  volunteered  to  guide  us  to  the 
lake,  by  a  path  but  little  known,  sooner  than  if  we  followed 
the  tardy  movements  of  the  column ;  and,  by  consequence, 
more  agreeably." 

"I  like  him  not,"  said  the  lady,  shuddering,  partly  in  as- 
sumed, yet  more  in  real  terror.  "  You  know  him,  Duncan, 
or  you  would  not  trust  yourself  so  freely  to  his  keeping*?  " 

"  Say,  rather,  Alice,  that  I  would  not  trust  you.  I  do 
know  him,  or  he  would  not  have  my  confidence,  and  least 
of  all  at  this  moment.  He  is  said  to  be  a  Canadian  too; 
and  yet  he  served  with  our  friends  the  Mohawks,  who,  as 
you  know,  are  one  of  the  six  allied  nations.*  He  was 
brought  amongst  us,  as  I  have  heard,  by  some  strange  acci- 
dent in  which  your  father  was  interested,  and  in  which  the 
savage  was  rigidly  dealt  by — but  I  forget  the  idle  tale ;  it  is 
enough,  that  he  is  now  our  friend." 

"  If  he  has  been  my  father's  enemy,  I  like  him  still  less!  " 
exclaimed  the  now  really  anxious  girl.  "  Will  you  not  speak 
to  him,  Major  Heyward,  that  I  may  hear  his  tones?  Fool- 
ish though  it  may  be,  you  have  often  heard  me  avow  my 
faith  in  the  tones  of  the  human  voice !  " 


*  There  existed  for  a  long  time  a  confederation  among  the  Indian  tribes  which  oc- 
cupied the  northwestern  part  of  the  colony  of  New  York,  which  was  at  first  known 
as  the  "Five  Nations."  At  a  later  day  it  admitted  another  tribe,  when  the  appellation 
was  changed  to  that  of  the  "Six  Nations."  The  original  confederation  consisted  of 
the  Mohawks,  the  Oneidas,  the  Senecas,  the  Cayugas,  and  the  Onondagos.  The 
sixth  tribe  was  the  Tuscaroras.  There  are  remnants  of  all  those  people  still  living  on 
lands  secured  to  them  by  the  State  ;  but  they  are  daily  disappearing,  either  by  deaths 
or  by  removals  to  scenes  more  congenial  to  their  habits.  In  a  short  time  there  will  be 
no  remains  of  these  extraordinary  people,  in  those  regions  in  which  they  dwelt  for 
centuries,  but  their  names.  The  State  of  New  York  has  counties  named  after  all  of 
them  but  the  Mohawks  and  the  Tuscaroras.  The  second  river  of  that  State  is  called 
the  Mohawk. 


24  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

"  It  would  be  in  vain ;  and  answered,  most  probably,  by  an 
ejaculation.  Though  he  may  understand  it,  he  affects,  like 
most  of  his  people,  to  be  ignorant  of  the  English;  and  least 
of  all  will  he  condescend  to  speak  it  now  that  war  demands 
the  utmost  exercise  of  his  dignity.  But  he  stops;  the  pri- 
vate path  by  which  we  are  to  journey  is,  doubtless,  at  hand." 

The  conjecture  of  Major  Heyward  was  true.  When  they 
reached  the  spot  where  the  Indian  stood,  pointing  into  the 
thicket  that  fringed  the  military  road,  a  narrow  and  blind 
path,  which  might,  with  some  little  inconvenience,  receive 
one  person  at  a  time,  became  visible. 

"  Here,  then,  lies  our  way,"  said  the  young  man,  in  a  low 
voice.  "  Manifest  no  distrust,  or  you  may  invite  the  dan- 
ger you  appear  to  apprehend." 

"Cora,  what  think  you?"  asked  the  reluctant  fair  one. 
"  If  we  journey  with  the  troops,  though  we  may  find  their 
presence  irksome,  shall  we  not  feel  better  assurance  of  our 
safety  ?  " 

"  Being  little  accustomed  to  the  practices  of  the  savages, 
Alice,  you  mistake  the  place  of  real  danger,"  said  Heyward. 
"  If  enemies  have  reached  the  portage  at  all,  a  thing  by  no 
means  probable,  as  our  scouts  are  abroad,  they  will  surely 
be  found  skirting  the  column,  where  scalps  abound  the  most. 
The  route  of  the  detachment  is  known,  while  ours,  having 
been  determined  within  the  hour,  must  still  be  secret." 

"  Should  we  distrust  the  man  because  his  manners  are  not 
our  manners,  and  that  his  skin  is  dark!  "  coldly  asked  Cora. 

Alice  hesitated  no  longer;  but  giving  her  Narraganset* 
a  smart  cut  of  the  whip,  she  was  the  first  to  dash  aside  the 
slight  branches  of  the  bushes,  and  to  follow  the  runner  along 

*  In  the  State  of  Rhode  Island  there  is  a  bay  called  Narraganset,  so  named  after  a 
powerful  tribe  of  Indians,  which  formerly  dwelt  on  its  banks.  Accident,  or  one  of 
those  unaccountable  freaks  which  nature  sometimes  plays  in  the  animal  world,  gave 
rise  to  a  breed  of  horses  which  were  once  well  known  in  America  by  the  name  of  the 
Narragansets.  They  were  small,  commonly  of  the  color  called  sorrel  in  America,  and 
distinguished  by  their  habit  of  pacing.  Horses  of  this  race  were,  and  are  still,  in  much 
request  as  saddle  horses,  on  account  of  their  hardiness  and  the  ease  of  their  move- 
ments. As  they  were  also  sure  of  foot,  the  Narragansets  were  greatly  sought  for  by 
females  who  were  obliged  to  travel  over  the  roots  and  holes  in  the  new  "countries." 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICAIfS.  25 

the  dark  and  tangled  pathway.  The  young  man  regarded 
the  last  speaker  in  open  admiration,  and  even  permitted  her 
fairer  though  certainly  not  more  beautiful  companion  to 
proceed  unattended,  while  he  sedulously  opened  the  way 
himself  for  the  passage  of  her  who  has  been  called  Cora. 
It  would  seem  that  the  domestics  had  been  previously  in- 
structed ;  for,  instead  of  penetrating  the  thicket,  they  fol- 
lowed the  route  of  the  column ;  a  measure  which  Heyward 
stated  had  been  dictated  by  the  sagacity  of  their  guide,  in 
order  to  diminish  the  marks  of  their  trail,  if,  haply,  the  Ca- 
nadian savages  should  be  lurking  so  far  in  advance  of  their 
army.  For  many  minutes  the  intricacy  of  the  route  ad- 
mitted of  no  further  dialogue;  after  which  they  emerged 
from  the  broad  border  of  underbrush  which  grew  along  the 
line  of  the  highway,  and  entered  under  the  high  but  dark 
arches  of  the  forest.  Here  their  progress  was  less  interrupt- 
ed; and  the  instant  the  guide  perceived  that  the  females 
could  command  their  steeds,  he  moved  on,  at  a  pace  between 
a  trot  and  a  walk,  and  at  a  rate  which  kept  the  sure-footed 
and  peculiar  animals  they  rode  at  a  fast  yet  easy  amble. 
The  youth  had  turned  to  speak  to  the  dark-eyed  Cora,  when 
the  distant  sounds  of  horses'  hoofs,  clattering  over  the  roots 
of  the  broken  way  in  his  rear,  caused  him  to  check  his 
charger;  and,  as  his  companions  drew  their  reins  at  the 
same  instant,  the  whole  party  came  to  a  halt,  in  order  to  ob- 
tain an  explanation  of  the  unlooked-for  interruption. 

In  a  few  moments  a  colt  was  seen  gliding,  like  a  fallow 
deer,  amongst  the  straight  trunks  of  the  pines;  and,  in  an- 
other instant,  the  person  of  the  ungainly  man,  described  in 
the  preceding  chapter,  came  into  view,  with  as  much  rapid- 
ity as  he  could  excite  his  meagre  beast  to  endure  without 
coming  to  an  open  rupture.  Until  now  this  personage  had 
escaped  the  observation  of  the  travellers.  If  he  possessed 
the  power  to  arrest  any  wandering  eye  when  exhibiting  the 
glories  of  his  altitude  on  foot,  his  equestrian  graces  were 
still  more  likely  to  attract  attention.     Notwithstanding  con- 


26  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

stant  application  of  his  one  armed  heel  to  the  flanks  of  the 
mare,  the  most  confirmed  gait  that  he  could  establish  was  a 
Canterbury  gallop  with  the  hind  legs,  in  which  those  more 
forward  assisted  for  doubtful  moments,  though  generally 
content  to  maintain  a  loping  trot.  Perhaps  the  rapidity  of 
the  changes  from  one  of  these  paces  to  the  other  created  an 
optical  illusion,  which  might  thus  magnify  the  powers  of  the 
beast ;  for  it  is  certain  that  Hey  ward,  who  possessed  a  true 
eye  for  the  merits  of  a  horse,  was  unable,  with  his  utmost 
ingenuity,  to  decide  by  what  sort  of  movement  his  pursuer 
worked  his  sinuous  way  on  his  footsteps  with  such  perse- 
vering hardihood. 

The  industry  and  movements  of  the  rider  were  not  less 
remarkable  than  those  of  the  ridden.  At  each  change  in 
the  evolutions  of  the  latter,  the  former  raised  his  tall  person 
in  the  stirrups;  producing,  in  this  manner,  by  the  undue 
elongation  of  his  legs,  such  sudden  growths  and  diminish- 
ings  of  the  stature,  as  baffled  every  conjecture  that  might 
be  made  as  to  his  dimensions.  If  to  this  be  added  the  fact 
that,  in  consequence  of  the  ex  parte  application  of  the  spur, 
one  side  of  the  mare  appeared  to  journey  faster  than  the 
other;  and  that  the  aggrieved  flank  was  resolutely  indicated 
by  unremitted  flourishes  of  a  bushy  tail,  we  finish  the  picture 
of  both  horse  and  man. 

The  frown  which  had  gathered  around  the  handsome, 
open,  and  manly  brow  of  Heyward  gradually  relaxed,  and 
his  lips  curled  into  a  slight  smile,  as  he  regarded  the  stran- 
ger. Alice  made  no  very  powerful  effort  to  control  her 
merriment;  and  even  the  dark,  thoughtful  eye  of  Cora  light- 
ed with  a  humor  that,  it  would  seem,  the  habit,  rather  than 
the  nature,  of  its  mistress  repressed. 

"Seek  you  any  here?"  demanded  Heyward,  when  the 
other  had  arrived  sufficiently  nigh  to  abate  his  speed;  "I 
trust  you  are  no  messenger  of  evil  tidings." 

u  Even  so,"  replied  the  stranger,  making  diligent  use  of 
his  triangular  castor,  to  produce  a  circulation  in  the  close 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  2J 

air  of  the  woods,  and  leaving  his  hearers  in  doubt  to  which 
of  the  young  man's  questions  he  responded ;  when,  however, 
he  had  cooled  his  face,  and  recovered  his  breath,  he  contin- 
ued, "I  hear  you  are  riding  to  William  Henry;  as  I  am 
journeying  thitherward  myself,  I  concluded  good  company 
would  seem  consistent  to  the  wishes  of  both  parties." 

"  You  appear  to  possess  the  privilege  of  a  casting  vote," 
returned  Heyward :  "  we  are  three,  whilst  you  have  consulted 
no  one  but  yourself." 

"  Even  so.  The  first  point  to  be  obtained  is  to  know 
one's  own  mind.  Once  sure  of  that,  and  where  women  are 
concerned  it  is  not  easy,  the  next  is,  to  act  up  to  the  deci- 
sion.    I  have  endeavored  to  do  both,  and  here  I  am." 

"  If  you  journey  to  the  lake,  you  have  mistaken  your 
route,"  said  Heyward,  haughtily ;  "  the  highway  thither  is  at 
least  half  a  mile  behind  you." 

"  Even  so,"  returned  the  stranger,  nothing  daunted  by  this 
cold  reception ;  "  I  have  tarried  at  '  Edward '  a  week,  and  I 
should  be  dumb  not  to  have  inquired  the  road  I  was  to  jour- 
ney; and  if  dumb  there  would  be  an  end  to  my  calling." 
After  simpering  in  a  small  way,  like  one  whose  modesty 
prohibited  a  more  open  expression  of  his  admiration  of  a 
witticism  that  was  perfectly  unintelligible  to  his  hearers,  he 
continued:  "  It  is  not  prudent  for  any  one  of  my  profession 
to  be  too  familiar  with  those  he  has  to  instruct;  for  which 
reason  I  follow  not  the  line  of  the  army :  besides  which,  I 
conclude  that  a  gentleman  of  your  character  has  the  best 
judgment  in  matters  of  wayfaring;  I  have  therefore  decided 
to  join  company,  in  order  that  the  ride  may  be  made  agree- 
able, and  partake  of  social  communion." 

"  A  most  arbitrary,  if  not  a  hasty  decision!  "  exclaimed 
Heyward,  undecided  whether  to  give  vent  to  his  growing 
anger,  or  to  laugh  in  the  other's  face.  "  But  you  speak  of 
instruction,  and  of  a  profession ;  are  you  an  adjunct  to  the 
provincial  corps,  as  a  master  of  the  noble  science  of  de- 
fence  and    offence;    or,  perhaps,  you  are  one  who  draws 


28  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

lines  and  angles,  under  the  pretence  of  expounding  the 
mathematics?  " 

The  stranger  regarded  his  interrogator  a  moment,  in  won- 
der; and  then,  losing  every  mark  of  self-satisfaction  in  an 
expression  of  solemn  humility,  he  answered: 

"Of  offence,  I  hope  there  is  none,  to  either  party:  of  de- 
fence, I  make  none — by  God's  good  mercy,  having  committed 
no  palpable  sin  since  last  entreating  his  pardoning  grace. 
I  understand  not  your  allusions  about  lines  and  angles;  and 
I  leave  expounding  to  those  who  have  been  called  and  set 
apart  for  that  holy  office.  I  lay  claim  to  no  higher  gift  than 
a  small  insight  into  the  glorious  art  of  petitioning  and 
thanksgiving,  as  practised  in  psalmody." 

"The  man  is,  most  manifestly,  a  disciple  of  Apollo," 
cried  the  amused  Alice,  "  and  I  take  him  under  my  own 
especial  protection.  Nay,  throw  aside  that  frown,  Heyward, 
and  in  pity  to  my  longing  ears,  suffer  him  to  journey  in  our 
train.  Besides,"  she  added,  in  a  low  and  hurried  voice, 
casting  a  glance  at  the  distant  Cora,  who  slowly  followed 
the  footsteps  of  their  silent  but  sullen  guide,  "  it  may  be  a 
friend  added  to  our  strength,  in  time  of  need." 

"  Think  you,  Alice,  that  I  would  trust  those  I  love  by 
this  secret  path,  did  I  imagine  such  need  could  happen?  " 

"Nay,  nay,  I  think  not  of  it  now;  but  this  strange  man 
amuses  me;  and  if  he  'hath  music  in  his  soul,'  let  us  not 
churlishly  reject  his  company."  She  pointed  persuasively 
along  the  path  with  her  riding- whip,  while  their  eyes  met  in 
a  look  which  the  young  man  lingered  a  moment  to  prolong; 
then  yielding  to  her  gentle  influence,  he  clapped  his  spurs 
into  his  charger,  and  in  a  few  bounds  was  again  at  the  side 
of  Cora. 

"  I  am  glad  to  encounter  thee,  friend,"  continued  the 
maiden,  waving  her  hand  to  the  stranger  to  proceed,  as  she 
urged  her  Narraganset  to  renew  its  amble.  "  Partial  rela- 
tives have  almost  persuaded  me  that  I  am  not  entirely 
worthless  in  a  duet  myself;  and  we  may  enliven  our  way- 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  29 

faring  by  indulging  in  our  favorite  pursuit.  It  might  be  of 
signal  advantage  to  one,  ignorant  as  I,  to  hear  the  opinions 
and  experience  of  a  master  in  the  art." 

"It  is  refreshing  both  to  the  spirits  and  to  the  body  to 
indulge  in  psalmody,  in  befitting  seasons,"  returned  the 
master  of  song,  unhesitatingly  complying  with  her  intima- 
tion to  follow;  "and  nothing  would  relieve  the  mind  more 
than  such  a  consoling  communion.  But  four  parts  are  alto 
gether  necessary  to  the  perfection  of  melody.  You  have  all 
the  manifestations  of  a  soft  and  rich  treble;  I  can,  by  espe- 
cial aid,  carry  a  full  tenor  to  the  highest  letter;  but  we  lack 
counter  and  bass!  Yon  officer  of  the  king,  who  hesitated 
to  admit  me  to  his  company,  might  fill  the  latter,  if  one  may 
judge  from  the  intonations  of  his  voice  in  common  dia- 
logue." 

"  Judge  not  too  rashly  from  hasty  and  deceptive  appear- 
ances," said  the  lady,  smiling;  "though  Major  Hey  ward 
can  assume  such  deep  notes  on  occasion,  believe  me,  his 
natural  tones  are  better  fitted  for  a  mellow  tenor  than  the 
bass  you  heard." 

"Is  he,  then,  much  practised  in  the  art  of  psalmody?" 
demanded  her  simple  companion. 

Alice  felt  disposed  to  laugh,  though  she  succeeded  in 
suppressing  her  merriment,  ere  she  answered — 

"  I  apprehend  that  he  is  rather  addicted  to  profane  song. 
The  chances  of  a  soldier's  life  are  but  little  fitted  for  the 
encouragement  of  more  sober  inclinations." 

"  Man's  voice  is  given  to  him,  like  his  other  talents,  to 
be  used,  and  not  to  be  abused.  None  can  say  they  have 
ever  known  me  neglect  my  gifts!  I  am  thankful  that, 
though  my  boyhood  maybe  said  to  have  been  set  apart,  like 
the  youth  of  the  royal  David,  for  the  purposes  of  music,  no 
syllable  of  rude  verse  has  ever  profaned  my  lips." 

"You  have,  then,  limited  your  efforts  to  sacred  song?  " 

"  Even  so.  As  the  psalms  of  David  exceed  all  other  lan- 
guage, so  does  the  psalmody  that  has  been  fitted  to  them  by 


30  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

the  divines  and  sages  of  the  land,  surpass  all  vain  poetry. 
Happily,  I  may  say  that  I  utter  nothing  but  the  thoughts 
and  the  wishes  of  the  King  of  Israel  himself;  for  though  the 
times  may  call  for  some  slight  changes,  yet  does  this  ver- 
sion which  we  use  in  the  colonies  of  New  England  so  much 
exceed  all  other  versions,  that,  by  its  richness,  its  exactness, 
and  its  spiritual  simplicity,  it  approacheth,  as  near  as  may 
be,  to  the  great  work  of  the  inspired  writer.  I  never  abide 
in  any  place,  sleeping  or  waking,  without  an  example  of  this 
gifted  work.  'Tis  the  six-and-twentieth  edition,  promul- 
gated at  Boston,  Anno  Domini  1744;  and  is  entitled,  'The 
Psalms,  Hymns,  and  Spiritual  Songs  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments;  faithfully  translated  into  English  Metre,  for  the 
Use,  Edification,  and  Comfort  of  the  Saints,  in  Public  and 
Private,  especially  in  New  England.'" 

During  this  eulogium  on  the  rare  production  of  his  native 
poets,  the  stranger  had  drawn  the  book  from  his  pocket,  and 
fitting  a  pair  of  iron-rimmed  spectacles  to  his  nose,  opened 
the  volume  with  a  care  and  veneration  suited  to  its  sacred 
purposes.  Then,  without  circumlocution  or  apology,  first 
pronouncing  the  word  "  Standish,"  and  placing  the  unknown 
engine,  already  described,  to  his  mouth,  from  which  he  drew 
a  high,  shrill  sound  that  was  followed  by  an  octave  below, 
from  his  own  voice,  he  commenced  singing  the  following 
words,  in  full,  sweet,  and  melodious  tones,  that  set  the  music, 
the  poetry,  and  even  the  uneasy  motion  of  his  ill-trained 
beast  at  defiance : 

"  How  good  it  is,  O  see, 

And  how  it  pleaseth  well, 
Together,  e'en  in  unity, 

For  brethren  so  to  dwell. 
It's  like  the  choice  ointment, 

From  the  head  to  th'  beard  did  go  : 
Down  Aaron's  beard,  that  downward  went, 

His  garment's  skirts  unto." 

The  delivery  of  these  skilful  rhymes  was  accompanied,  on 
the  part  of  the  stranger,  by  a  regular  rise  and  fall  of  his 
right  hand,  which  terminated  at  the  descent,  by  suffering  the 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  3 1 

fingers  to  dwell  a  moment  on  the  leaves  of  the  little  volume; 
and  on  the  ascent,  by  such  a  flourish  of  the  member  as  none 
but  the  initiated  may  ever  hope  to  imitate.  It  would  seem 
that  long  practice  had  rendered  this  manual  accompaniment 
necessary;  for  it  did  not  cease  until  the  preposition  which 
the  poet  had  selected  for  the  close  of  his  verse,  had  been 
duly  delivered  like  a  word  of  two  syllables. 

Such  an  innovation  on  the  silence  and  retirement  of  the 
forest  could  not  fail  to  enlist  the  ears  of  those  who  journeyed 
at  so  short  a  distance  in  advance.  The  Indian  muttered  a 
few  words  in  broken  English  to  Heyward,  who,  in  his  turn, 
spoke  to  the  stranger;  at  once  interrupting,  and,  for  the  time, 
closing  his  musical  efforts. 

"  Though  we  are  not  in  danger,  common  prudence  would 
teach  us  to  journey  through  this  wilderness  in  as  quiet  a 
manner  as  possible.  You  will,  then,  pardon  me,  Alice, 
should  I  diminish  your  enjoyments,  by  requesting  this  gen- 
tleman to  postpone  his  chant  until  a  safer  opportunity." 

"You  will  diminish  them,  indeed,"  returned  the  arch  girl, 
"for  never  did  I  hear  a  more  unworthy  conjunction  of  exe- 
cution and  language,  than  that  to  which  I  have  been  listen- 
ing; and  I  was  far  gone  in  a  learned  inquiry  into  the  causes 
of  such  an  unfitness  between  sound  and  sense,  when  you 
broke  the  charm  of  my  musing  by  that  bass  of  yours,  Dun- 
can !  " 

"  I  know  not  what  you  call  my  bass,"  said  Heyward, 
piqued  at  her  remark,  "  but  I  know  that  your  safety,  and 
that  of  Cora,  is  far  dearer  to  me  than  could  be  any  orchestra 
of  Handel's  music."  He  paused  and  turned  his  head  quickly 
toward  a  thicket,  and  then  bent  his  eyes  suspiciously  on  their 
guide,  who  continued  his  steady  pace,  in  undisturbed  grav- 
ity. The  young  man  smiled  to  himself,  for  he  believed  he 
had  mistaken  some  shining  berry  of  the  woods  for  the  glis- 
tening eyeballs  of  a  prowling  savage,  and  he  rode  forward, 
continuing  the  conversation  which  had  been  interrupted  by 
the  passing  thought. 


32  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

Major  Heyward  was  mistaken  only  in  suffering  his  youth- 
ful and  generous  pride  to  suppress  his  active  watchfulness. 
The  cavalcade  had  not  long  passed,  before  the  branches  of 
the  bushes  that  formed  the  thicket  were  cautiously  moved 
asunder,  and  a  human  visage,  as  fiercely  wild  as  savage  art 
and  unbridled  passions  could  make  it,  peered  out  on  the  re- 
tiring footsteps  of  the  travellers.  A  gleam  of  exultation 
shot  across  the  darkly  painted  lineaments  of  the  inhabitant 
of  the  forest,  as  he  traced  the  route  of  his  intended  victims, 
who  rode  unconsciously  onward;  the  light  and  graceful 
forms  of  the  females  waving  among  the  trees,  in  the  curva- 
tures of  their  path,  followed  at  each  bend  by  the  manly  fig- 
ure of  Heyward,  until,  finally,  the  shapeless  person  of  the 
singing  master  was  concealed  behind  the  numberless  trunks 
of  trees,  that  rose,  in  dark  lines,  in  the  intermediate  space. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Before  these  fields  were  shorn  and  till'd, 

Full  to  the  brim  our  rivers  flow'd  ; 
The  melody  of  waters  fill'd 

The  fresh  and  boundless  wood  ; 
And  torrents  dash'd,  and  rivulets  play'd, 

And  fountains  spouted  in  the  shade. 

Bryant. 

Leaving  the  unsuspecting  Heyward  and  his  confiding  com- 
panions to  penetrate  still  deeper  into  a  forest  that  con- 
tained such  treacherous  inmates,  we  must  use  an  author's 
privilege,  and  shift  the  scene  a  few  miles  to  the  westward  of 
the  place  where  we  have  last  seen  them. 

On  that  day,  two  men  were  lingering  on  the  banks  of  a 
small  but  rapid  stream,  within  an  hour's  journey  of  the  en- 
campment of  Webb,  like  those  who  awaited  the  appearance 
of  an  absent  person,  or  the  approach  of  some  expected  event. 
The  vast  canopy  of  woods  spread  itself  to  the  margin  of  the 
river,  overhanging  the  water,  and  shadowing  its  dark  current 


THE   LAST   OF   THE    MOHICANS.  33 

with  a  deeper  hue.  The  rays  of  the  sun  were  beginning  to 
grow  less  fierce,  and  the  intense  heat  of  the  day  was  les- 
sened, as  the  cooler  vapors  of  the  springs  and  fountains  rose 
above  their  leafy  beds,  and  rested  in  the  atmosphere.  Still 
that  breathing  silence,  which  marks  the  drowsy  sultriness  of 
an  American  landscape  in  July,  pervaded  the  secluded  spot, 
interrupted  only  by  the  low  voices  of  the  men,  the  occasional 
and  lazy  tap  of  a  woodpecker,  the  discordant  cry  of  some 
gaudy  jay,  or  a  swelling  on  the  ear,  from  the  dull  roar  of  a 
distant  waterfall. 

These  feeble  and  broken  sounds  were,  however,  too  famil- 
iar to  the  foresters,  to  draw  their  attention  from  the  more 
interesting  matter  of  their  dialogue.  While  one  of  these 
loiterers  showed  the  red  skin  and  wild  accoutrements  of  a 
native  of  the  woods,  the  other  exhibited,  through  the  mask 
of  his  rude  and  nearly  savage  equipments,  the  brighter, 
though  sunburnt  and  long-faded  complexion  of  one  who 
might  claim  descent  from  a  European  parentage.  The  for- 
mer was  seated  on  the  end  of  a  mossy  log,  in  a  posture  that 
permitted  him  to  heighten  the  effect  of  his  earnest  language, 
by  the  calm  but  expressive  gestures  of  an  Indian  engaged  in 
debate.  His  body,  which  was  nearly  naked,  presented  a 
terrific  emblem  of  death,  drawn  in  intermingled  colors  of 
white  and  black.  His  closely  shaved  head,  on  which  no 
other  hair  than  the  well-known  and  chivalrous  scalping  tuft  * 
was  preserved,  was  without  ornament  of  any  kind,  with  the 
exception  of  a  solitary  eagle's  plume,  that  crossed  his  crown 
and  depended  over  the  left  shoulder.  A  tomahawk  and 
scalping-knife,  of  English  manufacture,  were  in  his  girdle; 
while  a  short  military  rifle,  of  that  sort  with  which  the  policy 
of  the  whites  armed  their  savage  allies,  lay  carelessly  across 

*  The  North  American  warrior  caused  the  hair  to  be  plucked  from  his  whole  body  ; 
a  small  tuft,  only,  was  left  on  the  crown  of  his  head,  in  order  that  his  enemy  might 
avail  himself  of  it,  in  wrenching  off  the  scalp  in  the  event  of  his  fall.  The  scalp  was 
the  only  admissible  trophy  of  victory.  Thus,  it  was  deemed  more  important  to  obtain 
the  scalp  than  to  kill  the  man.  Some  tribes  lay  great  stress  on  the  honor  of  striking  a 
dead  body.  These  practices  have  nearly  disappeared  among  the  Indians  of  the  Atlan- 
tic States. 

3 


34  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

his  bare  and  sinewy  knee.  The  expanded  chest,  full  formed 
limbs,  and  grave  countenance  of  this  warrior,  would  denote 
that  he  had  reached  the  vigor  of  his  days,  though  no  symp- 
toms of  decay  appeared  to  have  yet  weakened  his  manhood. 

The  frame  of  the  white  man,  judging  by  such  parts  as 
were  not  concealed  by  his  clothes,  was  like  that  of  one  who 
had  known  hardships  and  exertion  from  his  earliest  youth. 
His  person,  though  muscular,  was  rather  attenuated  than  full ; 
but  every  nerve  and  muscle  appeared  strung  and  indurated 
by  unremitted  exposure  and  toil.  He  wore  a  hunting-shirt 
of  forest-green,  fringed  with  faded  yellow,*  and  a  summer 
cap  of  skins  which  had  been  shorn  of  their  fur.  He  also 
bore  a  knife  in  a  girdle  of  wampum,  like  that  which  con- 
fined the  scanty  garments  of  the  Indian,  but  no  tomahawk. 
His  moccasins  were  ornamented  after  the  gay  fashion  of  the 
natives,  while  the  only  part  of  his  under  dress  which  ap- 
peared below  the  hunting-frock  was  a  pair  of  buckskin  leg- 
gings, that  laced  at  the  sides,  and  which  were  gartered  above 
the  knees  with  the  sinews  of  a  deer.  A  pouch  and  horn 
completed  his  personal  accoutrements,  though  a  rifle  of  great 
length, \  which  the  theory  of  the  more  ingenious  whites  had 
taught  them  was  the  most  dangerous  of  all  fire-arms,  leaned 
against  a  neighboring  sapling.  The  eye  of  the  hunter,  or 
scout,  whichever  he  might  be,  was  small,  quick,  keen,  and 
restless,  roving  while  he  spoke,  on  every  side  of  him,  as  if 
in  quest  of  game,  or  distrusting  the  sudden  approach  of 
some  lurking  enemy.  Notwithstanding  these  symptoms  of 
habitual  suspicion,  his  countenance  was  not  only  without 
guile,  but  at  the  moment  at  which  he  is  introduced,  it  was 
charged  with  an  expression  of  sturdy  honesty. 

"Even  your  traditions  make  the  case  in  my  favor,  Chin- 
gachgook,"   he  said,  speaking   in   the    tongue  which   was 

*The  hunting-shirt  is  a  picturesque  smock-frock,  being  shorter,  and  ornamented 
with  fringes  and  tassels.  The  colors  are  intended  to  imitate  the  hues  of  the  wood,  with 
a  view  to  concealment.  Many  corps  of  American  riflemen  have  been  thus  attired  ;  and 
the  dress  is  one  of  the  most  striking  of  modern  times.  The  hunting-shirt  is  frequently 
white.  t  The  rifle  of  the  army  is  short ;  that  of  the  hunter  is  always  long. 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  35 

known  to  all  the  natives  who  formerly  inhabited  the  coun- 
try between  the  Hudson  and  the  Potomac,  and  of  which  we 
shall  give  a  free  translation  for  the  benefit  of  the  reader;  en- 
deavoring, at  the  same  time,  to  preserve  some  of  the  pecu- 
liarities both  of  the  individual  and  of  the  language.  "  Your 
fathers  came  from  the  setting  sun,  crossed  the  big  river,* 
fought  the  people  of  the  country,  and  took  the  land;  and 
mine  came  from  the  red  sky  of  the  morning,  over  the  salt 
lake,  and  did  their  work  much  after  the  fashion  that  had 
been  set  them  by  yours ;  then  let  God  judge  the  matter  be- 
tween us,  and  friends  spare  their  words!  " 

"  My  fathers  fought  with  the  naked  red  man !  "  returned 
the  Indian,  sternly,  in  the  same  language.  "Is  there  no 
difference,  Hawk-eye,  between  the  stone-headed  arrow  of 
the  warrior,  and  the  leaden  bullet  with  which  you  kill? " 

"There  is  reason  in  an  Indian,  though  nature  has  made 
him  with  a  red  skin !  "  said  the  white  man,  shaking  his  head 
like  one  on  whom  such  an  appeal  to  his  justice  was  not 
thrown  away.  For  a  moment  he  appeared  to  be  conscious 
of  having  the  worst  of  the  argument,  then  rallying  again,  he 
answered  the  objection  of  his  antagonist  in  the  best  manner 
his  limited  information  would  allow :  "  I  am  no  scholar, 
and  I  care  not  who  knows  it;  but  judging  from  what  I  have 
seen,  at  deer  chases  and  squirrel  hunts,  of  the  sparks  below, 
I  should  think  a  rifle  in  the  hands  of  their  grandfathers  was 
not  so  dangerous  as  a  hickory  bow  and  a  good  flint-head 
might  be,  if  drawn  with  Indian  judgment,  and  sent  by  an 
Indian  eye." 

"  You  have  the  story  told  by  your  fathers,"  returned  the 
other,  coldly  waving  his  hand.  "What  say  your  old  men? 
do  they  tell  the  young  warriors,  that  the  pale-faces  met  the 
red  men,  painted  for  war  and  armed  with  the  stone  hatchet 
and  wooden  gun  ?  " 

*  The  Mississippi.  The  scout  alludes  to  a  tradition  which  is  very  popular  among  the 
tribes  of  the  Atlantic  States.  Evidence  of  their  Asiatic  origin  is  deduced  from  the 
circumstances,  though  great  uncertainty  hangs  over  the  whole  history  of  the  Indians. 


36  THE   LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

"I  am  not  a  prejudiced  man,  nor  one  who  vaunts  himself 
on  his  natural  privileges,  though  the  worst  enemy  I  have 
on  earth,  and  he  is  an  Iroquois,  daren't  deny  that  I  am  gen- 
uine white,"  the  scout  replied,  surveying,  with  secret  satis- 
faction, the  faded  color  of  his  bony  and  sinewy  hand;  "  and 
I  am  willing  to  own  that  my  people  have  many  ways,  of 
which,  as  an  honest  man,  I  can't  approve.  It  is  one  of  their 
customs  to  write  in  books  what  they  have  done  and  seeni 
instead  of  telling  them  in  their  villages,  where  the  lie  can 
be  given  to  the  face  of  a  cowardly  boaster,  and  the  brave 
soldier  can  call  on  his  comrades  to  witness  for  the  truth  of 
his  words.  In  consequence  of  this  bad  fashion,  a  man  who 
is  too  conscientious  to  misspend  his  days  among  the  women, 
in  learning  the  names  of  black  marks,  may  never  hear  of  the 
deeds  of  his  fathers,  nor  feel  a  pride  in  striving  to  outdo 
them.  For  myself  I  conclude  all  the  Bumppos  could  shoot; 
for  I  have  a  natural  turn  with  a  rifle,  which  must  have  been 
handed  down  from  generation  to  generation,  as,  our  holy 
commandments  tell  us,  all  good  and  evil  gifts  are  bestowed; 
though  I  should  be  loth  to  answer  for  other  people  in  such 
a  matter.  But  every  story  has  its  two  sides :  so  I  ask  you, 
Chingachgook,  what  passed,  according  to  the  traditions  of 
the  red  men,  when  our  fathers  first  met? " 

A  silence  of  a  minute  succeeded,  during  which  the  Indian 
sat  mute;  then,  full  of  the  dignity  of  his  office,  he  com- 
menced his  brief  tale,  with  a  solemnity  that  served  to 
heighten  its  appearance  of  truth. 

"  Listen,  Hawk-eye,  and  your  ear  shall  drink  no  lie.  'Tis 
what  my  fathers  have  said,  and  what  the  Mohicans  have 
done."  He  hesitated  a  single  instant,  and  bending  a  cau- 
tious glance  toward  his  companion,  he  continued,  in  a  man- 
ner that  was  divided  between  interrogation  and  assertion — 
"  Does  not  this  stream  at  our  feet  run  toward  the  summer, 
until  its  waters  grow  salt,  and  the  current  flows  upward?  " 

"It  can't  be  denied  that  your  traditions  tell  you  true  in 
both  these  matters,"  said  the  white  man;  "for  I  have  been 


THE   LAST   OF    THE    MOHICANS.  37 

there,  and  have  seen  them ;  though,  why  water,  which  is  so 
sweet  in  the  shade,  should  become  bitter  in  the  sun,  is  an 
alteration  for  which  I  have  never  been  able  to  account." 

"And  the  current!  "  demanded  the  Indian,  who  expected 
his  reply  with  that  sort  of  interest  that  a  man  feels  in  the 
confirmation  of  testimony,  at  which  he  marvels  even  while 
he  respects  it;  "  the  fathers  of  Chingachgook  have  not  lied !" 

"  The  holy  Bible  is  not  more  true,  and  that  is  the  truest 
thing  in  nature.  They  call  this  up-stream  current  the  tide, 
which  is  a  thing  soon  explained,  and  clear  enough.  Six 
hours  the  waters  run  in,  and  six  hours  they  run  out,  and  the 
reason  is  this :  when  there  is  higher  water  in  the  sea  than  in 
the  river,  they  run  in  until  the  river  gets  to  be  highest,  and 
then  it  runs  out  again." 

"  The  waters  in  the  woods,  and  on  the  great  lakes,  run 
downward  until  they  lie  like  my  hand,"  said  the  Indian, 
stretching  the  limb  horizontally  before  him,  "and  then  they 
run  no  more." 

"No  honest  man  will  deny  it,"  said  the  scout,  a  little 
nettled  at  the  implied  distrust  of  his  explanation  of  the 
mystery  of  the  tides;  "and  I  grant  that  it  is  true  on  the 
small  scale,  and  where  the  land  is  level.  But  everything 
depends  on  what  scale  you  look  at  things.  Now,  on  the 
small  scale,  the  'arth  is  level ;  but  on  the  large  scale  it  is 
round.  In  this  manner,  pools  and  ponds,  and  even  the 
great  fresh-water  lakes,  may  be  stagnant,  as  you  and  I  both 
know  they  are,  having  seen  them;  but  when  you  come  to 
spread  water  over  a  great  tract,  like  the  sea,  where  the  earth 
is  round,  how  in  reason  can  the  water  be  quiet?  You  might 
as  well  expect  the  river  to  lie  still  on  the  brink  of  those 
black  rocks  a  mile  above  us,  though  your  own  ears  tell  you 
that  it  is  tumbling  over  them  at  this  very  moment! " 

If  unsatisfied  by  the  philosophy  of  his  companion,  the 
Indian  was  far  too  dignified  to  betray  his  unbelief.  He  lis- 
tened like  one  who  was  convinced,  and  resumed  his  narra* 
tive  in  his  former  solemn  manner 


38  THE   LAST    OF   THE    MOHICANS. 

"We  came  from  the  place  where  the  sun  is  hid  at  night, 
over  great  plains  where  the  buffaloes  live,  until  we  reached 
the  big  river.  There  we  fought  the  Alligewi,  till  the  ground 
was  red  with  their  blood.  From  the  banks  of  the  big  river 
to  the  shores  of  the  salt  lake,  there  was  none  to  meet  us. 
The  Maquas  followed  at  a  distance.  We  said  the  country 
should  be  ours  from  the  place  where  the  water  runs  up  no 
longer  on  this  stream  to  a  river  twenty  suns'  journey  toward 
the  summer.  The  land  we  had  taken  like  warriors  we  kept 
like  men.  We  drove  the  Maquas  into  the  woods  with  the 
bears.  They  only  tasted  salt  at  the  licks;  they  drew  no  fish 
from  the  great  lake:  we  threw  them  the  bones." 

"All  this  I  have  heard  and  believe,"  said  the  white  man, 
observing  that  the  Indian  paused:  "but  it  was  long  before 
the  English  came  into  the  country." 

"  A  pine  grew  then  where  this  chestnut  now  stands.  The 
first  pale-faces  who  came  among  us  spoke  no  English.  They 
came  in  a  large  canoe,  when  my  fathers  had  buried  the  toma- 
hawk with  the  red  men  around  them.  Then,  Hawk-eye," 
he  continued,  betraying  his  deep  emotion,  only  by  permit- 
ting his  voice  to  fall  to  those  low,  guttural  tones,  which  ren- 
der his  language,  as  spoken  at  times,  so  very  musical ; 
"  then,  Hawk-eye,  we  were  one  people,  and  we  were  happy. 
The  salt  lake  gave  us  its  fish,  the  wood  its  deer,  and  the  air 
its  birds.  We  took  wives  who  bore  us  children ;  we  wor- 
shipped the  Great  Spirit;  and  we  kept  the  Maquas  beyond 
the  sound  of  our  songs  of  triumph !  " 

"  Know  you  anything  of  your  own  family  at  that  time?  "  de- 
manded the  white.  "  But  you  are  a  just  man,  for  an  Indian ! 
and,  as  I  suppose  you  hold  their  gifts,  your  fathers  must  have 
been  brave  warriors,  and  wise  men  at  the  council  fire." 

"  My  tribe  is  the  grandfather  of  nations,  but  I  am  an  un- 
mixed man.  The  blood  of  chiefs  is  in  my  veins,  where  it 
must  stay  forever.  The  Dutch  landed,  and  gave  my  people 
the  fire-water ;  they  drank  until  the  heavens  and  the  earth 
seemed  to  meet,  and  they  foolishly  thought  they  had  found 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  39 

the  Great  Spirit.  Then  they  parted  with  their  land.  Foot 
by  foot,  they  were  driven  back  from  the  shores,  until  I,  that 
am  a  chief  and  a  Sagamore,  have  never  seen  the  sun  shine 
but  through  the  trees,  and  have  never  visited  the  graves  of 
my  fathers !  " 

"Graves  bring  solemn  feelings  over  the  mind,"  returned 
the  scout,  a  good  deal  touched  at  the  calm  suffering  of  his 
companion;  "and  they  often  aid  a  man  in  his  good  inten- 
tions; though,  for  myself,  I  expect  to  leave  my  own  bones 
unburied,  to  bleach  in  the  woods,  or  to  be  torn  asunder  by 
the  wolves.  But  where  are  to  be  found  those  of  your  race 
who  came  to  their  kin  in  the  Delaware  country,  so  many 
summers  since?  " 

"Where  are  the  blossoms  of  those  summers!— fallen,  one 
by  one :  so  all  of  my  family  departed,  each  in  his  turn,  to 
the  land  of  spirits.  I  am  on  the  hill-top,  and  must  go  down 
into  the  valley ;  and  when  Uncas  follows  in  my  footsteps, 
there  will  no  longer  be  any  of  the  blood  of  the  Sagamores, 
for  my  boy  is  the  last  of  the  Mohicans." 

"  Uncas  is  here !  "  said  another  voice,  in  the  same,  soft, 
guttural  tones,  near  his  elbow;  "who  speaks  to  Uncas?  " 

The  white  man  loosened  his  knife  in  his  leathern  sheath, 
and  made  an  involuntary  movement  of  the  hand  toward  his 
rifle,  at  this  sudden  interruption;  but  the  Indian  sat  com- 
posed, and  without  turning  his  head  at  the  unexpected  sounds. 

At  the  next  instant,  a  youthful  warrior  passed  between 
them,  with  a  noiseless  step,  and  seated  himself  on  the  bank 
of  the  rapid  stream.  No  exclamation  of  surprise  escaped 
the  father,  nor  was  any  question  asked,  or  reply  given,  for 
several  minutes;  each  appearing  to  await  the  moment  when 
he  might  speak,  without  betraying  womanish  curiosity  or 
childish  impatience.  The  white  man  seemed  to  take  coun- 
sel from  their  customs,  and,  relinquishing  his  grasp  of  the 
rifle,  he  also  remained  silent  and  reserved.  At  length 
Chingachgook  turned  his  eyes  slowly  toward  his  son,  and 
demanded — 


4©  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

"  Do  the  Maquas  dare  to  leave  the  print  of  their  mocca- 
sins in  these  woods?  " 

"I  have  been  on  their  trail,"  replied  the  young  Indian, 
"and  know  that  they  number  as  many  as  the  fingers  of  my 
two  hands;  but  they  lie  hid  like  cowards." 

"The  thieves  are  out-lying  for  scalps  and  plunder!  "  said 
the  white  man,  whom  we  shall  call  Hawk-eye,  after  the 
manner  of  his  companions.  "  That  busy  Frenchman,  Mont- 
calm, will  send  his  spies  into  our  very  camp,  but  he  will 
know  what  road  we  travel !  " 

"  'Tis  enough!  "  returned  the  father,  glancing  his  eye  tow- 
ard the  setting  sun;  "  they  shall  be  driven  like  deer  from 
their  bushes.  Hawk-eye,  let  us  eat  to-night,  and  show  the 
Maquas  that  we  are  men  to-morrow." 

"  I  am  as  ready  to  do  the  one  as  the  other :  but  to  fight 
the  Iroquois  'tis  necessary  to  find  the  skulkers;  and  to  eat, 
'tis  necessary  to  get  the  game — talk  of  the  devil  and  he  will 
come;  there  is  a  pair  of  the  biggest  antlers  I  have  seen  this 
season,  moving  the  bushes  below  the  hill!  Now,  Uncas," 
he  continued  in  a  half  whisper,  and  laughing  with  a  kind 
of  inward  sound,  like  one  who  had  learnt  to  be  watchful, 
"  I  will  bet  my  charger  three  times  full  of  powder,  against 
a  foot  of  wampum,  that  I  take  him  atwix  the  eyes,  and 
nearer  to  the  right  than  to  the  left." 

"It  cannot  be!  "  said  the  young  Indian,  springing  to  his 
feet  with  youthful  eagerness;  " all  but  the  tips  of  his  horns 
are  hid!" 

"  He's  a  boy!  "  said  the  white  man,  shaking  his  head  while 
he  spoke,  and  addressing  the  father.  "  Does  he  think  when 
a  hunter  sees  a  part  of  the  creatur',  he  can't  tell  where  the 
rest  of  him  should  be!  " 

Adjusting  his  rifle,  he  was  about  to  make  an  exhibition 
of  that  skill  on  which  he  so  much  valued  himself,  when  the 
warrior  struck  up  the  piece  with  his  hand,  saying, 

"  Hawk-eye!  will  you  fight  the  Maquas?  " 

"  These  Indians  know  the  nature  of  the  woods,  as  it  might 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  4 1 

be  by  instinct!  "  returned  the  scout,  dropping  his  rifle,  and 
turning  away  like  a  man  who  was  convinced  of  his  error. 
"  I  must  leave  the  buck  to  your  arrow,  Uncas,  or  we  may 
kill  a  deer  for  them  thieves,  the  Iroquois,  to  eat." 

The  instant  the  father  seconded  this  intimation  by  an  ex- 
pressive gesture  of  the  hand,  Uncas  threw  himself  on  the 
ground,  and  approached  the  animal  with  wary  movements. 
When  within  a  few  yards  of  the  cover,  he  fitted  an  arrow  to 
his  bow  with  the  utmost  care,  while  the  antlers  moved,  as  if 
their  owner  snuffed  an  enemy  in  the  tainted  air.  In  another 
moment  the  twang  of  the  cord  was  heard,  a  white  streak 
was  seen  glancing  into  the  bushes,  and  the  wounded  buck 
plunged  from  the  cover  to  the  very  feet  of  his  hidden  enemy. 
Avoiding  the  horns  of  the  infuriated  animal,  Uncas  darted 
to  his  side,  and  passed  his  knife  across  the  throat,  when 
bounding  to  the  edge  of  the  river  it  fell,  dyeing  the  waters 
with  its  blood. 

"  'Twas  done  with  Indian  skill,"  said  the  scout,  laughing 
inwardly,  but  with  vast  satisfaction ;  "  and  'twas  a  pretty 
sight  to  behold !  Though  an  arrow  is  a  near  shot,  and  needs 
a  knife  to  finish  the  work." 

"  Hugh !  "  ejaculated  his  companion,  turning  quickly,  like 
a  hound  who  scented  game. 

"  By  the  Lord,  there  is  a  drove  of  them !  "  exclaimed  the 
scout,  whose  eyes  began  to  glisten  with  the  ardor  of  his 
usual  occupation ;  "  if  they  come  within  range  of  a  bullet  I 
will  drop  one,  though  the  whole  Six  Nations  should  be  lurk- 
ing within  sound!  What  do  you  hear,  Chingachgook?  for 
to  my  ears  the  woods  are  dumb." 

"There  is  but  one  deer,  and  he  is  dead,"  said  the  Indian, 
bending  his  body  till  his  ear  nearly  touched  the  earth.  "  I 
hear  the  sounds  of  feet !  n 

"  Perhaps  the  wolves  have  driven  the  buck  to  shelter,  and 
are  following  on  his  trail." 

"No.  The  horses  of  white  men  are  coming!"  returned 
the  other,  raising  himself  with  dignity,  and  resuming  his 


42  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

seat  on  the  log  with  his  former  composure.     "  Hawk-eye, 
they  are  your  brothers;  speak  to  them." 

"That  will  I,  and  in  English  that  the  king  needn't  be 
ashamed  to  answer,"  returned  the  hunter,  speaking  in  the 
language  of  which  he  boasted;  "but  I  see  nothing,  nor  do 
I  hear  the  sounds  of  man  or  beast;  'tis  strange  that  an  In- 
dian should  understand  white  sounds  better  than  a  man  who, 
his  very  enemies  will  own,  has  no  cross  in  his  blood, 
although  he  may  have  lived  with  the  red-skins  long  enough 
to  be  suspected!  Ha!  there  goes  something  like  the  crack- 
ing of  a  dry  stick,  too — now  I  hear  the  bushes  move — yes, 
yes,  there  is  a  trampling  that  I  mistook  for  the  falls — and — 
but  here  they  come  themselves ;  God  keep  them  from  the 
Iroquois ! " 


CHAPTER  IV. 


Well,  go  thy  way  ;  thou  shalt  not  from  this  grove 
Till  I  torment  thee  for  this  injury. 

Midsummer  Night's  Dream. 

The  words  were  still  in  the  mouth  of  the  scout,  when  the 
leader  of  the  party,  whose  approaching  footsteps  had  caught 
the  vigilant  ear  of  the  Indian,  came  openly  into  view.  A 
beaten  path,  such  as  those  made  by  the  periodical  passage 
of  the  deer,  wound  through  a  little  glen  at  no  great  distance, 
and  struck  the  river  at  the  point  where  the  white  man  and 
his  red  companions  had  posted  themselves.  Along  this 
track  the  travellers,  who  had  produced  a  surprise  so  unusual 
in  the  depths  of  the  forest,  advanced  slowly  toward  the 
hunter,  who  was  in  front  of  his  associates,  in  readiness  to 
receive  them. 

"Who  comes?  "  demanded  the  scout,  throwing  his  rifle 
carelessly  across  his  left  arm,  and  keeping  the  forefinger  of 
his  right  hand  on  the  trigger,  though  he  avoided  all  appear- 
ance of  menace  in  the  act — "Who  comes  hither,  among  the 
beasts  and  dangers  of  the  wilderness?  " 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  43 

"  Believers  in  religion,  and  friends  to  the  law  and  to  the 
king,"  returned  he  who  rode  foremost.  "  Men  who  have 
journeyed  since  the  rising  sun,  in  the  shades  of  this  forest, 
without  nourishment,  and  are  sadly  tired  of  their  wayfaring." 

"  You  are,  then,  lost,"  interrupted  the  hunter,  "  and  have 
found  how  helpless  'tis  not  to  know  whether  to  take  the 
right  hand  or  the  left?" 

"  Even  so;  sucking  babes  are  not  more  dependent  on  those 
who  guide  them  than  we  are  of  larger  growth,  and  who  may 
now  be  said  to  possess  that  stature  without  the  knowledge 
of  men.  Know  you  the  distance  to  a  post  of  the  crown 
called  William  Henry?" 

"  Hoot !  "  shouted  the  scout,  who  did  not  spare  his  open 
laughter,  though,  instantly  checking  the  dangerous  sounds, 
he  indulged  his  merriment  at  less  risk  of  being  overheard 
by  any  lurking  enemies.  "  You  are  as  much  off  the  scent 
as  a  hound  would  be,  with  Horican  atwixt  him  and  the  deer! 
William  Henry,  man !  if  you  are  friends  to  the  king,  and 
have  business  with  the  army,  your  better  way  would  be  to 
follow  the  river  down  to  Edward,  and  lay  the  matter  before 
Webb ;  who  tarries  there,  instead  of  pushing  into  the  defiles, 
and  driving  this  saucy  Frenchman  back  across  Champlain, 
into  his  den  again." 

Before  the  stranger  could  make  any  reply  to  this  unex- 
pected proposition,  another  horseman  dashed  the  bushes 
aside,  and  leaped  his  charger  into  the  pathway,  in  front  of 
his  companion. 

"What,  then,  may  be  our  distance  from  Fort  Edward?  " 
demanded  a  new  speaker;  "the  place  you  advise  us  to  seek 
we  left  this  morning,  and  our  destination  is  the  head  of  the 
lake." 

"  Then  you  must  have  lost  your  eyesight  afore  losing  your 
way,  for  the  road  across  the  portage  is  cut  to  a  good  two 
rods,  and  is  as  grand  a  path,  I  calculate,  as  any  that  runs 
into  London,  or  even  before  the  palace  of  the  king  himself." 

"We  will  not  dispute  concerning  the  excellence  of  the 


44  THE    LAST    OP    THE    MOHICANS. 

passage,"  returned  Hey  ward,  smiling;  for,  as  the  reader  has 
anticipated,  it  was  he.  "  It  is  enough,  for  the  present,  that 
we  trusted  to  an  Indian  guide  to  take  us  by  a  nearer,  though 
blinder  path,  and  that  we  are  deceived  in  his  knowledge. 
In  plain  words,  we  know  not  where  we  are." 

"An  Indian  lost  in  the  woods!  "  said  the  scout,  shaking 
his  head  doubtingly ;  "  when  the  sun  is  scorching  the  tree 
tops,  and  the  water-courses  are  full;  when  the  moss  on  every 
beech  he  sees  will  tell  him  in  which  quarter  the  north  star 
will  shine  at  night!  The  woods  are  full  of  deer-paths  which 
run  to  the  streams  and  licks,  places  well  known  to  every- 
body; nor  have  the  geese  done  their  flight  to  the  Canada 
waters  altogether !  'Tis  strange  that  an  Indian  should  be 
lost  atwixt  Horican  and  the  bend  in  the  river!  Is  he  a 
Mohawk?" 

"Not  by  birth,  though  adopted  in  that  tribe;  I  think  his 
birth-place  was  farther  north,  and  he  is  one  of  those  you 
call  a  Huron." 

"  Hugh!"  exclaimed  the  two  companions  of  the  scout,  who 
had  continued  until  this  part  of  the  dialogue,  seated  immov- 
able, and  apparently  indifferent  to  what  passed,  but  who 
now  sprang  to  their  feet  with  an  activity  and  interest  that 
had  evidently  got  the  better  of  their  reserve,  by  surprise. 

"  A  Huron !  "  repeated  the  sturdy  scout,  once  more  shaking 
his  head  in  open  distrust;  "they  are  a  thievish  race,  nor  do 
I  care  by  whom  they  are  adopted;  you  can  never  make  any- 
thing of  them  but  skulks  and  vagabonds.  Since  you  trusted 
yourself  to  the  care  of  one  of  that  nation,  I  only  wonder  that 
you  have  not  fallen  in  with  more." 

"  Of  that  there  is  little  danger,  since  William  Henry  is 
so  many  miles  in  our  front.  You  forget  that  I  have  told 
you  our  guide  is  now  a  Mohawk,  and  that  he  serves  with  our 
forces  as  a  friend." 

"  And  I  tell  you  that  he  who  is  born  a  Mingo  will  die  a 
Mingo,"  returned  the  other,  positively.  "  A  Mohawk!  No, 
give  me  a  Delaware  or  a  Mohican  for  honesty;  and  when 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  45 

they  will  fight,  which  they  won't  all  do,  having  suffered  their 
cunning  enemies,  the  Maquas,  to  make  them  women — but 
when  they  will  fight  at  all,  look  to  a  Delaware,  or  a  Mohi- 
can, for  a  warrior !  " 

"Enough  of  this,"  said  Heyward,  impatiently;  "I  wish 
not  to  inquire  into  the  character  of  a  man  that  I  know,  and 
to  whom  you  must  be  a  stranger.  You  have  not  yet  answered 
my  question ;  what  is  our  distance  from  the  main  army  at 
Edward?" 

"  It  seems  that  may  depend  on  who  is  your  guide.  One 
would  think  such  a  horse  as  that  might  get  over  a  good  deal 
of  ground  atwixt  sun-up  and  sun-down." 

"  I  wish  no  contention  of  idle  words  with  you,  friend," 
said  Heyward,  curbing  his  dissatisfied  manner,  and  speak- 
ing in  a  more  gentle  voice ;  "  if  you  will  tell  me  the  distance 
to  Fort  Edward,  and  conduct  me  thither,  your  labor  shall 
not  go  without  its  reward." 

"And  in  so  doing,  how  know  I  that  I  don't  guide  an 
enemy  and  a  spy  of  Montcalm,  to  the  works  of  the  army? 
It  is  not  every  man  who  can  speak  the  English  tongue  that 
is  an  honest  subject." 

"If  you  serve  with  the  troops,  of  whom  I  judge  you  to  be 
a  scout,  you  should  know  of  such  a  regiment  of  the  king  as 
the6oth." 

"The  60th!  you  can  tell  me  little  of  the  Royal  Americans 
that  I  don't  know,  though  I  do  wear  a  hunting-shirt  instead 
of  a  scarlet  jacket." 

"  Well,  then,  among  other  things,  you  may  know  the  name 
of  its  major?  " 

"  Its  major !  "  interrupted  the  hunter,  elevating  his  body 
like  one  who  was  proud  of  his  trust.  "  If  there  is  a  man  in 
the  country  who  knows  Major  Effingham,  he  stands  before 
you." 

"  It  is  a  corps  which  has  many  majors ;  the  gentleman  you 
name  is  the  senior,  but  I  speak  of  the  junior  of  them  all ;  he 
who  commands  the  companies  in  garrison  at  William  Henry." 


46  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

"Yes,  yes,  I  have  heard  that  a  young  gentleman  of  vast 
riches,  from  one  of  the  provinces  far  south,  has  got  the  place. 
He  is  over  young,  too,  to  hold  such  rank,  and  to  be  put 
above  men  whose  heads  are  beginning  to  bleach;  and  yet 
they  say  he  is  a  soldier  in  his  knowledge,  and  a  gallant  gen- 
tleman !  " 

"Whatever  he  may  be,  or  however  he  may  be  qualified  for 
his  rank,  he  now  speaks  to  you,  and  of  course  can  be  no 
enemy  to  dread." 

The  scout  regarded  Heyward  in  surprise,  and  then  lifting 
his  cap,  he  answered,  in  a  tone  less  confident  than  before — 
though  still  expressing  doubt — 

"  I  have  heard  a  party  was  to  leave  the  encampment  this 
morning,  for  the  lake  shore?  " 

"  You  have  heard  the  truth ;  but  I  preferred  a  nearer  route, 
trusting  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Indian  I  mentioned." 

"  And  he  deceived  you,  and  then  deserted  ?  " 

"Neither,  as  I  believe;  certainly  not  the  latter,  for  he  is 
to  be  found  in  the  rear." 

"  I  should  like  to  look  at  the  creatur' ;  if  it  is  a  true  Iro- 
quois I  can  tell  him  by  his  knavish  look,  and  by  his  paint," 
said  the  scout,  stepping  past  the  charger  of  Heyward,  and 
entering  the  path  behind  the  mare  of  the  singing  master, 
whose  foal  had  taken  advantage  of  the  halt  to  exact  the  ma- 
ternal contribution.  After  shoving  aside  the  bushes,  and 
proceeding  a  few  paces,  he  encountered  the  females,  who 
awaited  the  result  of  the  conference  with  anxiety,  and  not 
entirely  without  apprehension.  Behind  these,  the  runner 
leaned  against  a  tree,  where  he  stood  the  close  examination 
of  the  scout  with  an  air  unmoved,  though  with  a  look  so  dark 
and  savage,  that  it  might  in  itself  excite  fear.  Satisfied 
with  his  scrutiny,  the  hunter  soon  left  him.  As  he  repassed 
the  females,  he  paused  a  moment  to  gaze  upon  their  beauty, 
answering  to  the  smile  and  nod  of  Alice  with  a  look  of  open 
pleasure.  Thence  he  went  to  the  side  of  the  motherly  ani- 
mal, and  spending  a  minute  in  a  fruitless  inquiry  into  the 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  47 

character  of  her  rider,  he  shook  his  head  and  returned  to 
Heyward. 

"  A  Mingo  is  a  Mingo,  and  God  having  made  him  so, 
neither  the  Mohawks  nor  any  other  tribe  can  alter  him,"  he 
said,  when  he  had  regained  his  former  position.  "  If  we 
were  alone,  and  you  would  leave  that  noble  horse  at  the 
mercy  of  the  wolves  to-night,  I  could  show  you  the  way  to 
Edward,  myself,  within  an  hour,  for  it  lies  only  about  an 
hour's  journey  hence;  but  with  such  ladies  in  your  com- 
pany 'tis  impossible!  " 

"And  why?  they  are  fatigued,  but  they  are  quite  equal  to 
a  ride  of  a  few  more  miles." 

"  'Tis  a  natural  impossibility !"  repeated  the  scout;  "I 
wouldn't  walk  a  mile  in  these  woods  after  night  gets  into 
them,  in  company  with  that  runner,  for  the  best  rifle  in  the 
colonies.  They  are  full  of  outlying  Iroquois,  and  your 
mongrel  Mohawk  knows  where  to  find  them  too  well,  to  be 
my  companion." 

"Think  you  so?  "  said  Heyward,  leaning  forward  in  the 
saddle,  and  dropping  his  voice  nearly  to  a  whisper;  "  I  con- 
fess I  have  not  been  without  my  own  suspicions,  though  I 
have  endeavored  to  conceal  them,  and  affected  a  confidence 
I  have  not  always  felt,  on  account  of  my  companions.  It 
was  because  I  suspected  him  that  I  would  follow  no  longer; 
making  him,  as  you  see,  follow  me." 

"  I  knew  he  was  one  of  the  cheats  as  soon  as  I  laid  eyes 
on  him ! "  returned  the  scout,  placing  a  finger  on  his  nose, 
in  sign  of  caution.  "The  thief  is  leaning  against  the  foot 
of  the  sugar  sapling,  that  you  can  see  over  them  bushes; 
his  right  leg  is  in  a  line  with  the  bark  of  the  tree,  and," 
tapping  his  rifle,  "  I  can  take  him  from  where  I  stand,  be- 
tween the  ankle  and  the  knee,  with  a  single  shot,  putting  an 
end  to  his  tramping  through  the  woods,  for  at  least  a  month 
to  come.  If  I  should  go  back  to  him,  the  cunning  varmint 
would  suspect  something,  and  be  dodging  through  the  trees 
like  a  frightened  deer." 


48  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

"  It  will  not  do.  He  may  be  innocent,  and  I  dislike  the 
act.     Though,  if  I  felt  confident  of  his  treachery " 

"  'Tis  a  safe  thing  to  calculate  on  the  knavery  of  an  Iro- 
quois," said  the  scout,  throwing  his  rifle  forward,  by  a  short 
of  instinctive  movement. 

"  Hold!  "  interrupted  Heyward,  "  it  will  not  do — we  must 
think  of  some  other  scheme; — and  yet,  I  have  much  reason 
to  believe  the  rascal  has  deceived  me." 

The  hunter,  who  had  already  abandoned  his  intention  of 
maiming  the  runner,  mused  a  moment  and  then  made  a  ges- 
ture, which  instantly  brought  his  two  red  companions  to  his 
side.  They  spoke  together  earnestly  in  the  Delaware  lan- 
guage, though  in  an  undertone;  and  by  the  gestures  of  the 
white  man,  which  were  frequently  directed  toward  the  top 
of  the  sapling,  it  was  evident  he  pointed  out  the  situation 
of  their  hidden  enemy.  His  companions  were  not  long  in 
comprehending  his  wishes,  and,  laying  aside  their  fire-arms, 
they  parted,  taking  opposite  sides  of  the  path,  and  burying 
themselves  in  the  thicket,  with  such  cautious  movements 
that  their  steps  were  inaudible. 

"  Now,  go  you  back,"  said  the  hunter,  speaking  again  to 
Heyward,  "  and  hold  the  imp  in  talk ;  these  Mohicans  here 
will  take  him  without  breaking  his  paint." 

"  Nay,"  said  Heyward,  proudly,  "  I  will  seize  him  my- 
self." 

"Hist!  what  could  you  do,  mounted,  against  an  Indian 
in  the  bushes?  " 

"I  will  dismount." 

"  And,  think  you,  when  he  saw  one  of  your  feet  out  of  the 
stirrup,  he  would  wait  for  the  other  to  be  free  ?  Whoever 
comes  into  the  woods  to  deal  with  the  natives  must  use  In- 
dian fashions,  if  he  would  wish  to  prosper  in  his  undertak- 
ings. Go,  then;  talk  openly  to  the  miscreant,  and  seem  to 
believe  him  the  truest  friend  you  have  on  'arth." 

Heyward  prepared  to  comply,  though  with  strong  disgust 
at  the  nature  of  the  office  he  was  compelled  to  execute. 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  49 

Each  moment,  however,  pressed  upon  him  a  conviction  of 
the  critical  situation  in  which  he  had  suffered  his  invalu- 
able trust  to  be  involved  through  his  own  confidence.  The 
sun  had  already  disappeared,  and  the  woods,  suddenly  de- 
prived of  his  light,*  were  assuming  a  dusky  hue,  which 
keenly  reminded  him  that  the  hour  the  savage  usually  chose 
for  his  most  barbarous  and  remorseless  acts  of  vengeance  or 
hostility  was  speedily  drawing  near.  Stimulated  by  appre- 
hension, he  left  the  scout,  who  immediately  entered  into  a 
loud  conversation  with  the  stranger  that  had  so  unceremoni- 
ously enlisted  himself  in  the  party  of  travellers  that  morn- 
ing. In  passing  his  gentler  companions  Heyward  uttered  a 
few  words  of  encouragement,  and  was  pleased  to  find  that, 
though  fatigued  with  the  exercise  of  the  day,  they  appeared 
to  entertain  no  suspicion  that  their  present  embarrassment 
was  other  than  the  result  of  accident.  Giving  them  reason 
to  believe  he  was  merely  employed  in  a  consultation  con- 
cerning the  future  route,  he  spurred  his  charger,  and  drew 
the  reins  again,  when  the  animal  had  carried  him  within  a 
few  yards  of  the  place  where  the  sullen  runner  still  stood, 
leaning  against  the  tree. 

"  You  may  see,  Magua,"  he  said,  endeavoring  to  assume 
an  air  of  freedom  and  confidence,  "  that  the  night  is  closing 
around  us,  and  yet  we  are  no  nearer  to  William  Henry  than 
when  we  left  the  encampment  of  Webb  with  the  rising  sun. 
You  have  missed  the  way,  nor  have  I  been  more  fortunate. 
But,  happily,  we  have  fallen  in  with  a  hunter,  he  whom  you 
hear  talking  to  the  singer,  that  is  acquainted  with  the  deer- 
paths  and  by-ways  of  the  woods,  and  who  promises  to  lead 
us  to  a  place  where  we  may  rest  securely  till  the  morning." 

The  Indian  riveted  his  glowing  eyes  on  Heyward  as  he 
asked,  in  his  imperfect  English,  "Is  he  alone?  " 

"  Alone !  "  hesitatingly  answered  Heyward,  to  whom  de- 
ception was  too  new  to  be  assumed  without  embarrassment. 

*  The  scene  of  this  tale  was  in  the  42c!  degree  of  latitude,  where  the  twilight  is  nevel 
of  long  continuance. 

4 


50  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

"Oh!  not  alone,  surely,  Magua,  for  you  know  that  we  are 
with  him." 

"Then  le  Renard  Subtil  will  go,"  returned  the  runner, 
coolly  raising  his  little  wallet  from  the  place  where  it  had 
lain  at  his  feet;  "  and  the  pale-faces  will  see  none  but  their 
own  color." 

"  Go !     Whom  call  you  le  Renard  ?  " 

"  'Tis  the  name  his  Canada  fathers  have  given  to  Magua," 
returned  the  runner,  with  an  air  that  manifested  his  pride  at 
the  distinction.  "  Night  is  the  same  as  day  to  le  Subtil, 
when  Munro  waits  for  him." 

"And  what  account  will  le  Renard  give  the  chief  of  Wil- 
liam Henry  concerning  his  daughters?  Will  he  dare  to  tell 
the  hot-blooded  Scotsman  that  his  children  are  left  without 
a  guide,  though  Magua  promised  to  be  one?  " 

"Though  the  gray  head  has  a  loud  voice,  and  a  long  arm, 
le  Renard  will  not  hear  him,  or  feel  him,  in  the  woods." 

"But  what  will  the  Mohawks  say?  They  will  make  him 
petticoats,  and  bid  him  stay  in  the  wigwam  with  the  women, 
for  he  is  no  longer  to  be  trusted  with  the  business  of  a  man." 

"  Le  Subtil  knows  the  path  to  the  great  lakes,  and  he  can 
find  the  bones  of  his  fathers,"  was  the  answer  of  the  un- 
moved runner. 

"Enough,  Magua,"  said  Hey  ward;  "are  we  not  friends? 
Why  should  there  be  bitter  words  between  us?  Munro  has 
promised  you  a  gift  for  your  services  when  performed,  and  I 
shall  be  your  debtor  for  another.  Rest  your  weary  limbs, 
then,  and  open  your  wallet  to  eat.  We  have  a  few  moments 
to  spare;  let  us  not  waste  them  in  talk  like  wrangling  wo- 
men.    When  the  ladies  are  refreshed  we  will  proceed." 

"The  pale-faces  make  themselves  dogs  to  their  women," 
muttered  the  Indian,  in  his  native  language,  "and  when 
they  want  to  eat,  their  warriors  must  lay  aside  the  toma- 
hawk to  feed  their  laziness." 

"  What  say  you,  Renard?  " 

"  Le  Subtil  says  it  is  good." 


THE    LAST    OF   THE    MOHTCANS.  5 1 

The  Indian  then  fastened  his  eyes  keenly  on  the  open 
countenance  of  Heyward,  but  meeting  his  glance,  he  turned 
them  quickly  away,  and  seating  himself  deliberately  on  the 
ground,  he  drew  forth  the  remnant  of  some  former  repast,  and 
began  to  eat,  though  not  without  first  bending  his  looks 
slowly  and  cautiously  around  him. 

"  This  is  well,"  continued  Heyward;  "  and  le  Renard  will 
have  strength  and  sight  to  find  the  path  in  the  morning;  " — 
he  paused,  for  sounds  like  the  snapping  of  a  dried  stick,  and 
the  rustling  of  leaves,  rose  from  the  adjacent  bushes,  but 
recollecting  himself  instantly,  he  continued — "we  must  be 
moving  before  the  sun  is  seen,  or  Montcalm  may  lie  in  our 
path,  and  shut  us  out  from  the  fortress." 

The  hand  of  Magua  dropped  from  his  mouth  to  his  side, 
and  though  his  eyes  were  fastened  on  the  ground,  his  head 
was  turned  aside,  his  nostrils  expanded,  and  his  ears  seemed 
even  to  stand  more  erect  than  usual,  giving  to  him  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  statue  that  was  made  to  represent  intense 
attention. 

Heyward,  who  watched  his  movements  with  a  vigilant 
eye,  carelessly  extricated  one  of  his  feet  from  the  stirrup, 
while  he  passed  a  hand  toward  the  bear-skin  covering  of  his 
holsters.  Every  effort  to  detect  the  point  most  regarded  by 
the  runner  was  completely  frustrated  by  the  tremulous 
glances  of  his  organs,  which  seemed  not  to  rest  a  single  in- 
stant on  any  particular  object,  and  which,  at  the  same  time, 
could  be  hardly  said  to  move.  While  he  hesitated  how  to 
proceed,  le  Subtil  cautiously  raised  himself  to  his  feet, 
though  with  a  motion  so  slow  and  guarded,  that  not  the 
slightest  noise  was  produced  by  the  change.  Heyward  felt 
it  had  now  become  incumbent  on  him  to  act.  Throwing  his 
leg  over  the  saddle,  he  dismounted,  with  a  determination  to 
advance  and  seize  his  treacherous  companion,  trusting  the 
result  to  his  own  manhood.  In  order,  however,  to  prevent 
unnecessary  alarm,  he  still  preserved  an  air  of  calmness  and 
friendship. 


52  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

"Le  Renard  Subtil  does  not  eat,"  he  said,  using  the  ap- 
pellation he  had  found  most  flattering  to  the  vanity  of  the 
Indian.  "  His  corn  is  not  well  parched,  and  it  seems  dry. 
Let  me  examine ;  perhaps  something  may  be  found  among 
my  own  provisions  that  will  help  his  appetite." 

Magua  held  out  the  wallet  to  the  proffer  of  the  other. 
He  even  suffered  their  hands  to  meet,  without  betraying  the 
least  emotion,  or  varying  his  riveted  attitude  of  attention. 
But  when  he  felt  the  fingers  of  Heyward  moving  gently 
along  his  own  naked  arm,  he  struck  up  the  limb  of  the 
young  man,  and  uttering  a  piercing  cry  as  he  darted  be- 
neath it,  plunged,  at  a  single  bound,  into  the  opposite 
thicket.  At  the  next  instant  the  form  of  Chingachgook  ap- 
peared from  the  bushes,  looking  like  a  spectre  in  its  paint, 
and  glided  across  the  path  in  swift  pursuit.  Next  followed 
the  shout  of  Uncas,  when  the  woods  wjere  lighted  by  a  sud- 
den flash,  that  was  accompanied  by  the  sharp  report  of  the 
hunter's  rifle. 


CHAPTER  V. 


"In  such  a  night 

Did  Thisbe  fearfully  o'ertrip  the  dew  ; 
And  saw  the  lion's  shadow  ere  himself. " 

Merchant  of  Venice. 

The  suddenness  of  the  flight  of  his  guide,  and  the  wild 
cries  of  the  pursuers,  caused  Heyward  to  remain  fixed,  for  a 
few  moments,  in  inactive  surprise.  Then  recollecting  the 
importance  of  securing  the  fugitive,  he  dashed  aside  the 
surrounding  bushes,  and  pressed  eagerly  forward  to  lend  his 
aid  in  the  chase.  Before  he  had,  however,  proceeded  a 
hundred  yards,  he  met  the  three  foresters  already  returning 
from  their  unsuccessful  pursuit. 

"  Why  so  soon  disheartened !  "  he  exclaimed ;  "  the  scoun- 
drel must  be  concealed  behind  some  of  these  trees,  and  may 
yet  be  secured.     We  are  not  safe  while  he  goes  at  large." 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  53 

"  Would  you  set  a  cloud  to  chase  the  wind  ?  "  returned  the 
disappointed  scout ;  <:  I  heard  the  imp,  brushing  over  the  dry 
leaves,  like  a  black  snake,  and  blinking  a  glimpse  of  him, 
just  over  ag'in  yon  big  pine,  I  pulled  as  it  might  be  on  the 
scent;  but 'twouldn't  do!  and  yet  for  a  reasoning  aim,  if 
anybody  but  myself  had  touched  the  trigger,  I  should  call  it 
a  quick  sight;  and  I  may  be  accounted  to  have  experience 
in  these  matters,  and  one  who  ought  to  know.  Look  at  this 
sumach;  its  leaves  are  red,  though  everybody  knows  the 
fruit  is  in  the  yellow  blossom,  in  the  month  of  July!  " 

"'Tis  the  blood  of  le  Subtil!  he  is  hurt,  and  may  yet 
fall!" 

"  No,  no,"  returned  the  scout,  in  decided  disapprobation 
of  this  opinion,  "I  rubbed  the  bark  off  a  limb,  perhaps,  but 
the  creature  leaped  the  longer  for  it.  A  rifle  bullet  acts  on 
a  running  animal,  when  it  barks  him,  much  the  same  as  one 
of  your  spurs  on  a  horse ;  that  is,  it  quickens  motion,  and 
puts  life  into  the  flesh,  instead  of  taking  it  away.  But  when 
it  cuts  the  ragged  hole,  after  a  bound  or  two,  there  is,  com- 
monly, a  stagnation  of  further  leaping,  be  it  Indian  or  be  it 
deer!" 

"  We  are  four  able  bodies,  to  one  wounded  man !  " 

"  Is  life  grievous  to  you?  "  interrupted  the  scout.  "  Yon- 
der red  devil  would  draw  you  within  swing  of  the  toma- 
hawks of  his  comrades,  before  you  were  heated  in  the  chase. 
It  was  an  unthoughtful  act  in  a  man  who  has  so  often  slept 
with  the  war-whoop  ringing  in  the  air,  to  let  off  his  piece 
within  sound  of  an  ambushment!  But  then  it  was  a  natural 
temptation !  'twas  very  natural !  Come,  friends,  let  us  move 
our  station,  and  in  such  a  fashion,  too,  as  will  throw  the 
cunning  of  a  Mingo  on  a  wrong  scent,  or  our  scalps  will  be 
drying  in  the  wind  in  front  of  Montcalm's  marque,  ag'in 
this  hour  to-morrow." 

This  appalling  declaration,  which  the  scout  uttered  with 
the  cool  assurance  of  a  man  who  fully  comprehended,  while 
he  did  not  fear  to  face  the  danger,  served  to  remind  Hey* 


54  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

ward  of  the  importance  of  the  charge  with  which  he  himself 
had  been  intrusted.  Glancing  his  eyes  around,  with  a  vain 
effort  to  pierce  the  gloom  that  was  thickening  beneath  the 
leafy  arches  of  the  forest,  he  felt  as  if,  cut  off  from  human 
aid,  his  unresisting  companions  would  soon  lie  at  the  entire 
mercy  of  those  barbarous  enemies,  who,  like  beasts  of  prey, 
only  waited  till  the  gathering  darkness  might  render  their 
blows  more  fatally  certain.  His  awakened  imagination,  de- 
luded by  the  deceptive  light,  converted  each  waving  bush, 
or  the  fragment  of  some  fallen  tree,  into  human  forms,  and 
twenty  times  he  fancied  he  could  distinguish  the  horrid  vis- 
ages of  his  lurking  foes,  peering  from  their  hiding  places, 
in  never-ceasing  watchfulness  of  the  movements  of  his 
party.  Looking  upward,  he  found  that  the  thin  fleecy 
clouds,  which  evening  had  painted  on  the  blue  sky,  were 
already  losing  their  faintest  tints  of  rose-color,  while  the 
imbedded  stream,  which  glided  past  the  spot  where  he  stood, 
was  to  be  traced  only  by  the  dark  boundary  of  its  wooded 
banks. 

"  What  is  to  be  done?  "  he  said,  feeling  the  utter  helpless- 
ness of  doubt  in  such  a  pressing  strait;  "desert  me  not,  for 
God's  sake!  remain  to  defend  those  I  escort,  and  freely 
name  your  own  reward !  " 

His  companions,  who  conversed  apart  in  the  language  of 
their  tribe,  heeded  not  this  sudden  and  earnest  appeal. 
Though  their  dialogue  was  maintained  in  low  and  cautious 
sounds,  but  little  above  a  whisper,  Heyward,  who  now  ap- 
proached, could  easily  distinguish  the  earnest  tones  of  the 
younger  warrior  from  the  more  deliberate  speeches  of  his 
seniors.  It  was  evident,  that  they  debated  on  the  propriety 
of  some  measure,  that  nearly  concerned  the  welfare  of  the 
travellers.  Yielding  to  his  powerful  interest  in  the  subject, 
and  impatient  of  a  delay  that  seemed  fraught  with  so  much 
additional  danger,  Heyward  drew  still  nigher  to  the  dusky 
group,  with  an  intention  of  making  his  offers  of  compensa- 
tion more  definite,  when  the  white  man,  motioning  with  his 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  55 

hand,  as  if  he  conceded  the  disputed  point,  turned  away, 
saying  in  a  sort  of  soliloquy,  and  in  the  English  tongue: — 

"Uncas  is  right!  it  would  not  be  the  act  of  men  to  leave 
such  harmless  things  to  their  fate,  even  though  it  breaks  up 
the  harboring  place  for  ever.  If  you  would  save  these  ten- 
der blossoms  from  the  fangs  of  the  worst  of  sarpents,  gentle- 
man, you  have  neither  time  to  lose  nor  resolution  to  throw 
away!  " 

"  How  can  such  a  wish  be  doubted !  have  I  not  already 
offered " 

11  Offer  your  prayers  to  Him,  who  can  give  us  wisdom  to 
circumvent  the  cunning  of  the  devils  who  fill  these  woods," 
calmly  interrupted  the  scout,  "  but  spare  your  offers  of 
money,  which  neither  you  may  live  to  realize,  nor  I  to  profit 
by.  These  Mohicans  and  I  will  do  what  man's  thoughts 
can  invent,  to  keep  such  flowers,  which,  though  so  sweet, 
were  never  made  for  the  wilderness,  from  harm,  and  that 
without  hope  of  any  other  recompense  but  such  as  God 
always  gives  to  upright  dealings.  First,  you  must  promise 
two  things,  both  in  your  own  name  and  for  your  friends,  or 
without  serving  you,  we  shall  only  injure  ourselves!  " 

"  Name  them." 

"The  one  is,  to  be  still  as  these  sleeping  woods,  let  what 
will  happen;  and  the  other  is,  to  keep  the  place  where  we 
shall  take  you  for  ever  a  secret  from  all  mortal  men." 

"  I  will  do  my  utmost  to  see  both  these  conditions  fulfilled." 

"  Then  follow,  for  we  are  losing  moments  that  are  as  pre- 
cious as  the  heart's  blood  to  a  stricken  deer!  " 

Heyward  could  distinguish  the  impatient  gesture  of  the 
scout,  through  the  increasing  shadows  of  the  evening,  and 
he  moved  in  his  footsteps,  swiftly,  toward  the  place  where 
he  had  left  the  remainder  of  his  party.  When  they  rejoined 
the  expecting  and  anxious  females,  he  briefly  acquainted 
them  with  the  conditions  of  their  new  guide,  and  with  the 
necessity  that  existed  for  their  hushing  every  apprehension, 
in  instant  and  serious  exertions.     Although  his  alarming 


56  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

communication  was  not  received  without  much  secret  terror 
by  the  listeners,  his  earnest  and  impressive  manner,  aided 
perhaps  by  the  nature  of  the  danger,  succeeded  in  bracing 
their  nerves  to  undergo  some  unlooked-for  and  unusual 
trial.  Silently,  and  without  a  moment's  delay,  they  per- 
mitted him  to  assist  them  from  their  saddles,  when  they 
descended  quickly  to  the  water's  edge  where  the  scout  had 
collected  the  rest  of  the  party,  more  by  the  agency  of  ex- 
pressive gestures  than  by  any  use  of  words. 

"What  to  do  with  these  dumb  creatures!  "  muttered  the 
white  man,  on  whom  the  sole  control  of  their  future  move- 
ments appeared  to  devolve;  "  it  would  be  time  lost  to  cut 
their  throats,  and  cast  them  into  the  river ;  and  to  leave 
them  here,  would  be  to  tell  the  Mingoes  that  they  have  not 
far  to  seek  to  find  their  owners !  " 

"  Then  give  them  their  bridles,  and  let  them  range  the 
woods,"  Heyward  ventured  to  suggest. 

"  No;  it  would  be  better  to  mislead  the  imps,  and  make 
them  believe  they  must  equal  a  horse's  speed  to  run  down 
their  chase.  Aye,  aye,  that  will  blind  their  fire-balls  of 
eyes!     Chingach — Hist!  what  stirs  the  bush?  " 

"  The  colt." 

"  That  colt,  at  least,  must  die,"  muttered  the  scout,  grasp- 
ing at  the  mane  of  the  nimble  beast,  which  easily  eluded 
his  hand;  "Uncas,  your  arrows!  " 

"  Hold !  "  exclaimed  the  proprietor  of  the  condemned  ani- 
mal, aloud,  without  regard  to  the  whispering  tones  used  by 
the  others;  "spare  the  foal  of  Miriam!  it  is  the  comely 
offspring  of  a  faithful  dam,  and  would  willingly  injure 
naught." 

"When  men  struggle  for  the  single  life  God  has  given 
them,"  said  the  scout  sternly,  "  even  their  own  kind  seem  no 
more  than  the  beasts  of  the  wood.  If  you  speak  again,  I 
shall  leave  you  to  the  mercy  of  the  Maquas !  Draw  to  your 
arrow's  head,  Uncas;  we  have  no  time  for  second  blows." 

The  low,  muttering  sounds  of  his  threatening  voice  were 


THE   LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  57 

still  audible,  when  the  wounded  foal,  first  rearing  on  its 
hinder  legs,  plunged  forward  to  its  knees.  It  was  met  by 
Chingachgook,  whose  knife  passed  across  its  throat  quicker 
than  thought,  and  then  precipitating  the  motions  of  the 
struggling  victim,  he  dashed  it  into  the  river,  down  whose 
stream  it  glided  away,  gasping  audibly  for  breath  with  its 
ebbing  life.  This  deed  of  apparent  cruelty,  but  of  real  ne- 
cessity, fell  upon  the  spirits  of  the  travellers  like  a  terrific 
warning  of  the  peril  in  which  they  stood,  heightened  as  it 
was  by  the  calm  though  steady  resolution  of  the  actors  in 
the  scene.  The  sisters  shuddered  and  clung  closer  to  each 
other,  while  Heyward  instinctively  laid  his  hand  on  one  of 
the  pistols  he  had  just  drawn  from  their  holsters,  as  he 
placed  himself  between  his  charge  and  those  dense  shadows 
that  seemed  to  draw  an  impenetrable  veil  before  the  bosom 
of  the  forest. 

The  Indians,  however,  hesitated  not  a  moment,  but  taking 
the  bridles,  they  led  the  frightened  and  reluctant  horses 
into  the  bed  of  the  river. 

At  a  short  distance  from  the  shore,  they  turned,  and  were 
soon  concealed  by  the  projection  of  the  bank,  under  the 
brow  of  which  they  moved,  in  a  direction  opposite  to  the 
course  of  the  waters.  In  the  mean  time,  the  scout  drew  a 
canoe  of  bark  from  its  place  of  concealment  beneath  some 
low  bushes,  whose  branches  were  waving  with  the  eddies  of 
the  current,  into  which  he  silently  motioned  for  the  females 
to  enter.  They  complied  without  hesitation,  though  many 
a  fearful  and  anxious  glance  was  thrown  behind  them,  tow- 
ard the  thickening  gloom,  which  now  lay  like  a  dark  bar- 
rier along  the  margin  of  the  stream. 

So  soon  as  Cora  and  Alice  were  seated,  the  scout,  without 
regarding  the  element,  directed  Heyward  to  support  one 
side  of  the  frail  vessel,  and  posting  himself  at  the  other, 
they  bore  it  up  against  the  stream,  followed  by  the  dejected 
owner  of  the  dead  foal.  In  this  manner  they  proceeded,  for 
many  rods,  in  a  silence  that  was  only  interrupted  by  the 


$8  THE   LAST    OF   THE    MOHICANS. 

rippling  of  the  water,  as  its  eddies  played  around  them,  or 
the  low  dash  made  by  their  own  cautious  footsteps.  Hey- 
ward  yielded  the  guidance  of  the  canoe  implicitly  to  the 
scout,  who  approached  or  receded  from  the  shore,  to  avoid 
the  fragments  of  rocks,  or  deeper  parts  of  the  river,  with  a 
readiness  that  showed  his  knowledge  of  the  route  they  held. 
Occasionally  he  would  stop;  and  in  the  midst  of  a  breathing 
stillness,  that  the  dull  but  increasing  roar  of  the  waterfall 
only  served  to  render  more  impressive,  he  would  listen  with 
painful  intenseness,  to  catch  any  sounds  that  might  arise 
from  the  slumbering  forest.  When  assured  that  all  was 
still,  and  unable  to  detect,  even  by  the  aid  of  his  practised 
senses,  any  sign  of  his  approaching  foes,  he  would  deliber- 
ately assume  his  slow  and  guarded  progress.  At  length 
they  reached  a  point  in  the  river,  where  the  roving  eye  of 
Heyward  became  riveted  on  a  cluster  of  black  objects,  col- 
lected at  a  spot  where  the  high  bank  threw  a  deeper  shadow 
than  usual  on  the  dark  waters.  Hesitating  to  advance,  he 
pointed  out  the  place  to  the  attention  of  his  companion. 

"  Aye,"  returned  the  composed  scout,  "  the  Indians  have 
hid  the  beasts  with  the  judgment  of  natives!  Water  leaves 
no  trail,  and  an  owl's  eyes  would  be  blinded  by  the  dark- 
ness of  such  a  hole." 

The  whole  party  Was  soon  reunited,  and  another  consulta- 
tion was  held  between  the  scout  and  his  new  comrades,  dur- 
ing which,  they,  whose  fates  depended  on  the  faith  and  in- 
genuity of  these  unknown  foresters,  had  a  little  leisure  to 
observe  their  situation  more  minutely. 

The  river  was  confined  between  high  and  cragged  rocks, 
one  of  which  impended  above  the  spot  where  the  canoe 
rested.  As  these,  again,  were  surmounted  by  tall  trees, 
which  appeared  to  totter  on  the  brows  of  the  precipice,  it 
gave  the  stream  the  appearance  of  running  through  a  deep 
and  narrow  dell.  All  beneath  the  fantastic  limbs  and  ragged 
tree  tops,  which  were,  here  and  there,  dimly  painted  against 
the  starry  zenith,  lay  alike  in  shadowed  obscurity.     Behind 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  59 

them,  the  curvature  of  the  banks  soon  bounded  the  view,  by 
the  same  dark  and  wooded  outline;  but  in  front,  and  appar- 
ently at  no  great  distance,  the  water  seemed  piled  against 
the  heavens,  whence  it  tumbled  into  caverns,  out  of  which 
issued  those  sullen  sounds  that  had  loaded  the  evening 
atmosphere.  It  seemed,  in  truth,  to  be  a  spot  devoted  to 
seclusion,  and  the  sisters  imbibed  a  soothing  impression  of 
security,  as  they  gazed  upon  its  romantic,  though  not  unap- 
palling  beauties.  A  general  movement  among  their  con- 
ductors, however,  soon  recalled  them  from  a  contemplation 
of  the  wild  charms  that  night  had  assisted  to  lend  the  place, 
to  a  painful  sense  of  their  real  peril. 

The  horses  had  been  secured  to  some  scattering  shrubs 
that  grew  in  the  fissures  of  the  rocks,  where,  standing  in  the 
water,  they  were  left  to  pass  the  night.  The  scout  directed 
Heyward  and  his  disconsolate  fellow-travellers  to  seat  them- 
selves in  the  forward  end  of  the  canoe,  and  took  possession 
of  the  other  himself,  as  erect  and  steady  as  if  he  floated  in 
a  vessel  of  much  firmer  materials.  The  Indians  warily  re- 
traced their  steps  toward  the  place  they  had  left,  when  the 
scout,  placing  his  pole  against  a  rock,  by  a  powerful  shove, 
sent  his  frail  bark  directly  into  the  centre  of  the  turbulent 
stream.  For  many  minutes  the  struggle  between  the  light 
bubble  in  which  they  floated,  and  the  swift  current,  was 
severe  and  doubtful.  Forbidden  to  stir  even  a  hand,  and 
almost  afraid  to  breathe,  lest  they  should  expose  the  frail 
fabric  to  the  fury  of  the  stream,  the  passengers  watched  the 
glancing  waters  in  feverish  suspense.  Twenty  times  they 
thought  the  whirling  eddies  were  sweeping  them  to  destruc- 
tion, when  the  master-hand  of  their  pilot  would  bring  the 
bows  of  the  canoe  to  stem  the  rapid.  A  long,  a  vigorous, 
and,  as  it  appeared  to  the  females,  a  desperate  effort,  closed 
the  struggle.  Just  as  Alice  veiled  her  eyes  in  horror,  under 
the  impression  that  they  were  about  to  be  swept  within  the 
vortex  at  the  foot  of  the  cataract,  the  canoe  floated,  stationary, 
at  the  side  of  a  flat  rock,  that  lay  on  a  level  with  the  water. 


60  THE   LAST   OF   THE    MOHICANS. 

"  Where  are  we  ?  and  what  is  next  to  be  done  ?  "  demanded 
Heyward,  perceiving  that  the  exertions  of  the  scout  had 
ceased. 

"You  are  at  the  foot  of  Glenn's,"  returned  the  other, 
speaking  aloud,  without  fear  of  consequences,  within  the 
roar  of  the  cataract ;  "  and  the  next  thing  is  to  make  a  steady 
landing,  lest  the  canoe  upset,  and  you  should  go  down  again 
the  hard  road  we  have  travelled,  faster  than  you  came  up; 
'tis  a  hard  rift  to  stem,  when  the  river  is  a  little  swelled; 
and  five  is  an  unnatural  number  to  keep  dry,  in  the  hurry- 
skurry,  with  a  little  birchen  bark  and  gum.  There,  go 
you  all  on  the  rock,  and  I  will  bring  up  the  Mohicans  with 
the  venison.  A  man  had  better  sleep  without  his  scalp, 
than  famish  in  the  midst  of  plenty." 

His  passengers  gladly  complied  with  these  directions. 
As  the  last  foot  touched  the  rock,  the  canoe  whirled  from  its 
station,  when  the  tall  form  of  the  scout  was  seen,  for  an  in- 
stant, gliding  above  the  waters,  before  it  disappeared  in  the 
impenetrable  darkness  that  rested  on  the  bed  of  the  river. 
Left  by  their  guide,  the  travellers  remained  a  few  minutes 
in  helpless  ignorance,  afraid  even  to  move  along  the  broken 
rocks,  lest  a  false  step  should  precipitate  them  down  some 
one  of  the  many  deep  and  roaring  caverns,  into  which  the 
water  seemed  to  tumble,  on  every  side  of  them.  Their  sus- 
pense, however,  was  soon  relieved,  for  aided  by  the  skill  of 
the  natives,  the  canoe  shot  back  into  the  eddy,  and  floated 
again  at  the  side  of  the  low  rock,  before  they  thought  the 
scout  had  even  time  to  rejoin  his  companions. 

"  We  are  now  fortified,  garrisoned,  and  provisioned," 
cried  Heyward,  cheerfully,  "  and  may  set  Montcalm  and  his 
allies  at  defiance.  How,  now,  my  vigilant  sentinel,  can  you 
see  anything  of  those  you  call  the  Iroquois,  on  the  main 
land?" 

"  I  call  them  Iroquois,  because  to  me  every  native,  who 
speaks  a  foreign  tongue,  is  accounted  an  enemy,  though  he 
may  pretend  to  serve  the  king!     If  Webb  wants  faith  and 


THE   LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  6 1 

honesty  in  an  Indian,  let  him  bring  out  the  tribes  of  the 
Delawares,  and  send  these  greedy  and  lying  Mohawks  and 
Oneidas,  with  their  six  nations  of  varlets,  where  in  nature 
they  belong,  among  the  French !  " 

"  We  should  then  exchange  a  warlike  for  a  useless  friend! 
I  have  heard  that  the  Delawares  have  laid  aside  the  hatchet, 
and  are  content  to  be  called  women!  " 

"  Aye,  shame  on  the  Hollanders  *  and  Iroquois,  who  cir- 
cumvented them  by  their  deviltries,  into  such  a  treaty!  But 
I  have  known  them  for  twenty  years,  and  I  call  him  liar, 
that  says  cowardly  blood  runs  in  the  veins  of  a  Delaware. 
You  have  driven  their  tribes  from  the  sea-shore,  and  would 
now  believe  what  their  enemies  say,  that  you  may  sleep  at 
night  upon  an  easy  pillow.  No,  no;  to  me,  every  Indian 
who  speaks  a  foreign  tongue  is  an  Iroquois,  whether  the 
castle  f  of  his  tribe  be  in  Canada,  or  be  in  York." 

Heyward  perceiving  that  the  stubborn  adherence  of  the 
scout  to  the  cause  of  his  friends  the  Delawares  or  Mohicans, 
for  they  were  branches  of  the  same  numerous  people,  was 
likely  to  prolong  a  useless  discussion,  changed  the  subject. 

"  Treaty  or  no  treaty,  I  know  full  well,  that  your  two 
companions  are  brave  and  cautious  warriors!  have  they 
heard  or  seen  anything  of  our  enemies?  " 

"  An  Indian  is  a  mortal  to  be  felt  afore  he  is  seen,"  re- 
turned the  scout,  ascending  the  rock,  and  throwing  the  deer 
carelessly  down.  "  I  trust  to  other  signs  than  such  as  come 
in  at  the  eye,  when  I  am  outlying  on  the  trail  of  the  Min- 
goes." 

"  Do  your  ears  tell  you  that  they  have  traced  our  retreat?  " 

"  I  should  be  sorry  to  think  they  had,  though  this  is  a 
spot  that  stout  courage  might  hold  for  a  smart  skrimmage. 
I  will  not  deny,  however,  but  the  horses  cowered  when  I 
passed  them,  as  though  they  scented  the  wolves;  and  a  wolf 

*  The  reader  will  remember  that  New  York  was  originally  a  colony  of  the  Dutch. 

+  The  principal  villages  of  the  Indians  are  still  called  "castles"  by  the  whites  of 
New  York.  "Oneida  castle  "  is  no  more  than  a  scattered  hamlet  ;  but  the  name  is  in 
general  use. 


62  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

is  a  beast  that  is  apt  to  hover  about  an  Indian  ambushment, 
craving  the  offals  of  the  deer  the  savages  kill." 

"You  forget  the  buck  at  your  feet!  or,  may  we  not  owe 
their  visit  to  the  dead  colt?     Ha!  what  noise  is  that?  " 

"Poor  Miriam!"  murmured  the  stranger;  "thy  foal  was 
foreordained  to  become  a  prey  to  ravenous  beasts !  "  Then, 
suddenly  lifting  up  his  voice,  amid  the  eternal  din  of  the 
waters,  he  sang  aloud — 

"First  born  of  Egypt,  smite  did  he, 
Of  mankind,  and  of  beast  also  ; 
O,  Egypt !  wonders  sent  'midst  thee, 
On  Pharaoh  and  his  servants  too  !  " 

"  The  death  of  the  colt  sits  heavy  on  the  heart  of  its  own- 
er," said  the  scout;  "but  it's  a  good  sign  to  see  a  man 
account  upon  his  dumb  friends.  He  has  the  religion  of  the 
matter,  in  believing  what  is  to  happen  will  happen;  and 
with  such  a  consolation,  it  won't  be  long  afore  he  submits 
to  the  rationality  of  killing  a  four-footed  beast,  to  save  the 
lives  of  human  men.  It  may  be  as  you  say,"  he  continued, 
reverting  to  the  purport  of  Heyward's  last  remark;  "and 
the  greater  the  reason  why  we  should  cut  our  steaks,  and  let 
the  carcase  drive  down  the  stream,  or  we  shall  have  the  pack 
howling  along  the  cliffs,  begrudging  every  mouthful  we 
swallow.  Besides,  though  the  Delaware  tongue  is  the  same 
as  a  book  to  the  Iroquois,  the  cunning  varlets  are  quick 
enough  at  understanding  the  reason  of  a  wolf's  howl." 

The  scout,  whilst  making  his  remarks,  was  busied  in  col- 
lecting certain  necessary  implements;  as  he  concluded,  he 
moved  silently  by  the  group  of  travellers,  accompanied  by 
the  Mohicans,  who  seemed  to  comprehend  his  intentions 
with  instinctive  readiness,  when  the  whole  three  disap- 
peared in  succession,  seeming  to  vanish  against  the  dark 
face  of  a  perpendicular  rock,  that  rose  to  the  height  of  a  few 
yards,  within  as  many  feet  of  the  water's  edge. 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  63 


CHAPTER  VI. 

"Those  strains  that  once  did  sweet  in  Zion  glide  ; 
He  wales  a  portion  with  judicious  care  , 
And  '  let  us  worship  God  '  he  says    with  solemn  air.1 


Burns. 


Heyward,  and  his  female  companions,  witnessed  this  mys- 
terious movement  with  secret  uneasiness,  for,  though  the 
conduct  of  the  white  man  had  hitherto  been  above  reproach, 
his  rude  equipments,  blunt  address,  and  strong  antipathies, 
together  with  the  character  of  his  silent  associates,  were  all 
causes  for  exciting  distrust  in  minds  that  had  been  so  re- 
cently alarmed  by  Indian  treachery. 

The  stranger  alone  disregarded  the  passing  incidents. 
He  seated  himself  on  a  projection  of  the  rocks,  whence  he 
gave  no  other  signs  of  consciousness  than  by  the  struggles 
of  his  spirit,  as  manifested  in  frequent  and  heavy  sighs. 
Smothered  voices  were  next  heard,  as  though  men  called  to 
each  other  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  when  a  sudden  light 
flashed  upon  those  without,  and  laid  bare  the  much-prized 
secret  of  the  place. 

At  the  further  extremity  of  a  narrow,  deep  cavern  in  the 
rock,  whose  length  appeared  much  extended  by  the  perspec- 
tive and  the  nature  of  the  light  by  which  it  was  seen,  was 
seated  the  scout,  holding  a  blazing  knot  of  pine.  The 
strong  glare  of  the  fire  fell  full  upon  his  sturdy,  weather- 
beaten  countenance  and  forest  attire,  lending  an  air  of  ro- 
mantic wildness  to  the  aspect  of  an  individual,  who,  seen 
by  the  sober  light  of  day,  would  have  exhibited  the  pecul- 
iarities of  a  man  remarkable  for  the  strangeness  of  his 
dress,  the  iron-like  inflexibility  of  his  frame,  and  the  singu- 
lar compound  of  quick,  vigilant  sagacity,  and  of  exquisite 
simplicity,  that  by  turns  usurped  the  possession  of  his  mus- 
cular features  At  a  little  distance  stood  Uncas,  his  whole 
person  thrown   powerfully  into  view.     The  travellers  anx- 


64  THE   LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

iously  regarded  the  upright  flexible  figure  of  the  young 
Mohican,  graceful  and  unrestrained  in  the  attitudes  and 
movements  of  nature.  Though  his  person  was  more  than 
usually  screened  by  a  green  and  fringed  hunting-shirt,  like 
that  of  the  white  man,  there  was  no  concealment  to  his  dark, 
glancing,  fearless  eye,  alike  terrible  and  calm,  the  bold 
outline  of  his  high,  haughty  features,  pure  in  their  native 
red;  or  to  the  dignified  elevation  of  his  receding  forehead, 
together  with  all  the  finest  proportions  of  a  noble  head, 
bared  to  the  generous  scalping  tuft.  It  was  the  first  oppor- 
tunity possessed  by  Duncan  and  his  companions,  to  view  the 
marked  lineaments  of  either  of  their  Indian  attendants,  and 
each  individual  of  the  party  felt  relieved  from  a  burden  of 
doubt,  as  the  proud  and  determined,  though  wild  expression 
of  the  features  of  the  young  warrior  forced  itself  on  their 
notice.  They  felt  it  might  be  a  being  partially  benighted 
in  the  vale  of  ignorance,  but  it  could  not  be  one  who  would 
willingly  devote  his  rich  natural  gifts  to  the  purposes  of 
wanton  treachery.  The  ingenuous  Alice  gazed  at  his  free 
air  and  proud  carriage,  as  she  would  have  looked  upon  some 
precious  relic  of  the  Grecian  chisel,  to  which  life  had  been 
imparted  by  the  intervention  of  a  miracle;  while  Heyward, 
though  accustomed  to  see  the  perfection  of  form  which 
abounds  among  the  uncorrupted  natives,  openly  expressed 
his  admiration  at  such  an  unblemished  specimen  of  the 
noblest  proportions  of  man. 

"  I  could  sleep  in  peace,"  whispered  Alice,  in  reply, 
"  with  such  a  fearless  and  generous-looking  youth  for  my 
sentinel.  Surely,  Duncan,  those  cruel  murders,  those  terrific 
scenes  of  torture,  of  which  we  read  and  hear  so  much,  are 
never  acted  in  the  presence  of  such  as  he !  " 

"This,  certainly,  is  a  rare  and  brilliant  instance  of  those 
natural  qualities,  in  which  these  peculiar  people  are  said  to 
excel,"  he  answered.  "  I  agree  with  you,  Alice,  in  thinking 
that  such  a  front  and  eye  were  formed  rather  to  intimidate 
than  to  deceive ;  but  let  us  not  practise  a  deception  upon 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  65 

ourselves,  by  expecting  any  other  exhibition  of  what  we  es- 
teem virtue  than  according  to  the  fashion  of  a  savage.  As 
bright  examples  of  great  qualities  are  but  too  uncommon 
among  Christians,  so  are  they  singular  and  solitary  with  the 
Indians ;  though,  for  the  honor  of  our  common  nature,  neither 
are  incapable  of  producing  them.  Let  us  then  hope  that 
this  Mohican  may  not  disappoint  our  wishes,  but  prove, 
what  his  looks  assert  him  to  be,  a  brave  and  constant 
friend." 

"  Now  Major  Heyward  speaks  as  Major  Heyward  should," 
said  Cora;  "who,  that  looks  at  this  creature  of  nature,  re- 
members the  shade  of  his  skin  ?  " 

A  short,  and  apparently  an  embarrassed  silence  succeeded 
this  remark,  which  was  interrupted  by  the  scout  calling  to 
them,  aloud,  to  enter. 

"  This  fire  begins  to  show  too  bright  a  flame,"  he  contin- 
ued, as  they  complied,  "  and  might  light  the  Mingoes  to  our 
undoing.  Uncas,  drop  the  blanket,  and  show  the  knaves  its 
dark  side.  This  is  not  such  a  supper  as  a  major  of  the 
Royal  Americans  has  a  right  to  expect,  but  I've  known  stout 
detachments  of  the  corps  glad  to  eat  their  venison  raw,  and 
without  a  relish  too.*  Here,  you  see,  we  have  plenty  of  salt, 
and  can  make  a  quick  broil.  There's  fresh  sassafras  boughs 
for  the  ladies  to  sit  on,  which  may  not  be  as  proud  as  their 
my-hog-guinea  chairs,  but  which  sends  up  a  sweeter  flavor 
than  the  skin  of  any  hog  can  do,  be  it  of  Guinea,  or  be  it 
of  any  other  land.  Come,  friend,  don't  be  mournful  for  the 
colt;  'twas  an  innocent  thing,  and  had  not  seen  much  hard- 
ship. Its  death  will  save  the  creature  many  a  sore  back 
and  weary  foot!  " 

Uncas  did  as  the  other  had  directed,  and  when  the  voice 

*  In  vulgar  parlance  the  condiments  of  a  repast  are  called  by  the  Americans  "a 
relish,"  substituting  the  thing  for  its  effect.  These  provincial  terms  are  frequently 
put  in  the  mouths  of  the  speakers,  according  to  their  several  conditions  in  life.  Most 
of  them  are  of  local  use,  and  others  quite  peculiar  to  the  particular  class  of  men  to 
which  the  character  belongs  In  the  present  instance,  the  scout  uses  the  word  with 
immediate  reference  to  the  "salt,"  with  which  his  own  party  was  so  fortunate  as  ti>  be 
provided. 


66  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

of  Hawk-eye  ceased,  the  roar  of  the  cataract  sounded  like 
the  rumbling  of  distant  thunder. 

"Are  we  quite  safe  in  this  cavern?  "  demanded  Hey  ward. 
"Is  there  no  danger  of  surprise?  A  single  armed  man,  at 
its  entrance,  would  hold  us  at  his  mercy." 

A  spectral-looking  figure  stalked  from  out  the  darkness 
behind  the  scout,  and  seizing  a  blazing  brand,  held  it  tow- 
ard the  further  extremity  of  their  place  of  retreat.  Alice 
uttered  a  faint  shriek,  and  even  Cora  rose  to  her  feet,  as 
this  appalling  object  moved  into  the  light;  but  a  single 
word  from  Heyward  calmed  them,  with  the  assurance  it  was 
only  their  attendant,  Chingachgook,  who,  lifting  another 
blanket,  discovered  that  the  cavern  had  two  outlets.  Then, 
holding  the  brand,  he  crossed  a  deep,  narrow  chasm  in  the 
rocks,  which  ran  at  right  angles  with  the  passage  they  were 
in,  but  which,  unlike  that,  was  open  to  the  heavens,  and 
entered  another  cave,  answering  to  the  description  of  the 
first,  in  every  essential  particular. 

"  Such  old  foxes  as  Chingachgook  and  myself  are  not 
often  caught  in  a  burrow  with  one  hole,"  said  Hawk-eye, 
laughing ;  "  you  can  easily  see  the  cunning  of  the  place — the 
rock  is  black  limestone,  which  everybody  knows  is  soft;  it 
makes  no  uncomfortable  pillow,  where  brush  and  pine  wood 
is  scarce;  well,  the  fall  was  once  a  few  yards  below  us,  and 
I  dare  to  say  was,  in  its  time,  as  regular  and  as  handsome  a 
sheet  of  water  as  any  along  the  Hudson.  But  old  age  is  a 
great  injury  to  good  looks,  as  these  sweet  young  ladies  have 
yet  to  l'arn!  The  place  is  sadly  changed!  These  rocks 
are  full  of  cracks,  and  in  some  places  they  are  softer  than 
at  othersome,  and  the  water  has  worked  out  deep  hollows 
for  itself,  until  it  has  fallen  back,  aye,  some  hundred  feet, 
breaking  here  and  wearing  there,  until  the  falls  have 
neither  shape  nor  consistency." 

"  In  what  part  of  them  are  we?  "  asked  Heyward. 

"  Why,  we  are  nigh  the  spot  that  Providence  first  placed 
them  at,  but  where,  it  seems,  they  were  too  rebellious  to 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  67 

stay.  The  rock  proved  softer  on  each  side  of  us,  and  so 
they  left  the  centre  of  the  river  bare  and  dry,  first  working 
out  these  two  little  holes  for  us  to  hide  in." 

"We  are  then  on  an  island?  " 

"Aye!  there  are  the  falls  on  two  sides  of  us,  and  the 
river  above  and  below.  If  you  had  daylight,  it  would  be 
worth  the  trouble  to  step  up  on  the  height  of  this  rock,  and 
look  at  the  perversity  of  the  water.  It  falls  by  no  rule  at 
all;  sometimes  it  leaps,  sometimes  it  tumbles;  there,  it 
skips;  here,  it  shoots;  in  one  place  'tis  white  as  snow,  and 
in  another 'tis  green  as  grass;  hereabouts,  it  pitches  into 
deep  hollows,  that  rumble  and  quake  the  'arth ;  and  there- 
away, it  ripples  and  sings  like  a  brook,  fashioning  whirl- 
pools and  gulleys  in  the  old  stone,  as  if  'twas  no  harder 
than  trodden  clay.  The  whole  design  of  the  river  seems 
disconcerted.  First  it  runs  smoothly,  as  if  meaning  to  go 
down  the  descent  as  things  were  ordered;  then  it  angles 
about  and  faces  the  shores ;  nor  are  there  places  wanting 
where  it  looks  backward,  as  if  unwilling  to  leave  the  wilder- 
ness, to  mingle  with  the  salt !  Aye,  lady,  the  fine  cobweb- 
looking  cloth  you  wear  at  your  throat,  is  coarse,  and  like  a 
fish  net,  to  little  spots  I  can  show  you,  where  the  river 
fabricates  all  sorts  of  images,  as  if,  having  broke  loose  from 
order,  it  would  try  its  hand  at  everything.  And  yet  what 
does  it  amount  to !  After  the  water  has  been  suffered  to 
have  its  will,  for  a  time,  like  a  headstrong  man,  it  is  gath- 
ered together  by  the  hand  that  made  it,  and  a  few  rods  be- 
low you  may  see  it  all,  flowing  on  steadily  toward  the  sea, 
as  was  foreordained  from  the  first  foundation  of  the  'arth!  " 

While  his  auditors  received  a  cheering  assurance  of  the 
security  of  their  place  of  concealment,  from  this  untutored 
description  of  Glenn's,*  they  were  much  inclined  to  judge 

*  Glenn's  Falls  on  the  Hudson,  some  forty  or  fifty  miles  above  the  head  of  tide,  or 
the  place  where  that  river  becomes  navigable  for  sloops.  The  description  of  this  pic- 
turesque and  remarkable  little  cataract,  as  given  by  the  scout,  is  sufficiently  correct, 
though  the  application  of  the  water  to  the  uses  of  civilized  life  has  materially  injured 
its  beauties.     The  rocky  island  and  the  two  caverns  are  well  known  to  every  traveller. 


68  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

differently  from  Hawk-eye,  of  its  wild  beauties.  But  they 
were  not  in  a  situation  to  suffer  their  thoughts  to  dwell  on 
the  charms  of  natural  objects;  and,  as  the  scout  had  not 
found  it  necessary  to  cease  his  culinary  labors  while  he 
spoke,  unless  to  point  out,  with  a  broken  fork,  the  direction 
of  some  particularly  obnoxious  point  in  the  rebellious 
stream,  they  now  suffered  their  attention  to  be  drawn  to 
the  necessary  though  more  vulgar  consideration  of  their 
supper. 

The  repast,  which  was  greatly  aided  by  the  addition  of  a 
few  delicacies  that  Heyward  had  the  precaution  to  bring 
with  him  when  they  left  their  horses,  was  exceedingly  re- 
freshing to  the  wearied  party.  Uncas  acted  as  attendant  to 
the  females,  performing  all  the  little  offices  within  his 
power,  with  a  mixture  of  dignity  and  anxious  grace,  that 
served  to  amuse  Heyward,  who  well  knew  that  it  was  an 
utter  innovation  on  the  Indian  customs,  which  forbid  their 
warriors  to  descend  to  any  menial  employment,  especially 
in  favor  of  their  women.  As  the  rites  of  hospitality  were, 
however,  considered  sacred  among  them,  this  little  departure 
from  the  dignity  of  manhood  excited  no  audible  comment. 
Had  there  been  one  there  sufficiently  disengaged  to  become 
a  close  observer,  he  might  have  fancied  that  the  services  of 
the  young  chief  were  not  entirely  impartial.  That  while 
he  tendered  to  Alice  the  gourd  of  sweet  water,  and  the 
venison  in  a  trencher,  neatly  carved  from  the  knot  of  the 
pepperidge,  with  sufficient  courtesy,  in  performing  the  same 
offices  to  her  sister,  his  dark  eye  lingered  on  her  rich  speak- 
ing countenance.  Once  or  twice  he  was  compelled  to  speak, 
to  command  the  attention  of  those  he  served.  In  such 
cases,  he  made  use  of  English,  broken  and  imperfect,  but 
sufficiently  intelligible,  and  which  he  rendered  so  mild  and 

since  the  former  sustains  a  pier  of  a  bridge,  which  is  now  thrown  across  the  river,  im- 
mediately above  the  fall.  In  explanation  of  the  taste  of  Hawk-eye,  it  should  be  re- 
membered that  men  always  prize  that  most  which  is  least  enjoyed.  Thus  in  a  ^w 
country,  the  woods  and  other  objects,  which  in  an  old  country  would  be  main^iwed 
at  great  cost,  are  got  rid  of.  simply  with  a  view  of  "improving"  as  it  is  called 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  69 

musical,  by  his  deep,*  guttural  voice,  that  it  never  failed  to 
cause  both  ladies  to  look  up  in  admiration  and  astonish- 
ment. In  the  course  of  these  civilities,  a  few  sentences 
were  exchanged,  that  served  to  establish  the  appearance  of 
an  amicable  intercourse  between  the  parties. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  gravity  of  Chingachgook  remained 
immovable.  He  had  seated  himself  more  within  the  circle 
of  light,  where  the  frequent  uneasy  glances  of  his  guests 
were  better  enabled  to  separate  the  natural  expression  of 
his  face  from  the  artificial  terrors  of  the  war-paint.  They 
found  a  strong  resemblance  between  father  and  son,  with 
the  difference  that  might  be  expected  from  age  and  hard- 
ships. The  fierceness  of  his  countenance  now  seemed  to 
slumber,  and  in  its  place  was  to  be  seen  the  quiet,  vacant 
composure,  which  distinguishes  an  Indian  warrior  when  his 
faculties  are  not  required  for  any  of  the  greater  purposes  of 
his  existence.  It  was,  however,  easy  to  be  seen,  by  the  oc- 
casional gleams  that  shot  across  his  swarthy  visage,  that  it 
was  only  necessary  to  arouse  his  passions,  in  order  to  give 
full  effect  to  the  terrific  device  which  he  had  adopted  to  in- 
timidate his  enemies.  On  the  other  hand,  the  quick,  roving 
eye  of  the  scout  seldom  rested.  He  ate  and  drank  with  an 
appetite  that  no  sense  of  danger  could  disturb,  but  his  vigi- 
lance seemed  never  to  desert  him.  Twenty  times  the  gourd 
or  the  venison  was  suspended  before  his  lips,  while  his 
head  was  turned  aside,  as  though  he  listened  to  some  dis- 
tant and  distrusted  sounds — a  movement  that  never  failed 
to  recall  his  guests  from  regarding  the  novelties  of  their 
situation,  to  a  recollection  of  the  alarming  reasons  that  had 
driven  them  to  seek  it.  As  these  frequent  pauses  were 
never  followed  by  any  remark,  the  momentary  uneasiness 
they  created  quickly  passed  away,  and  for  a  time  was  for- 
gotten. 

"  Come,  friend,"  said  Hawk-eye,  drawing  out  a  keg  from 
beneath  a  cover  of  leaves,  toward  the  close  of  the  repast, 

*  The  meaning  of  Indian  words  is  much  governed  by  the  emphasis  and  tones. 


yO  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

and  addressing  the  stranger  who  sat  at  his  elbow,  doing 
great  justice  to  his  culinary  skill,  "try  a  little  spruce;  'twill 
wash  away  all  thoughts  of  the  colt,  and  quicken  the  life  in 
your  bosom.  I  drink  to  our  better  friendship,  hoping  that 
a  little  horseflesh  may  leave  no  heartburnings  atween  us. 
How  do  you  name  yourself?  " 

"Gamut — David  Gamut,"  returned  the  singing-master, 
preparing  to  wash  down  his  sorrows  in  a  powerful  draught 
of  the  woodman's  high-flavored  and  well-laced  compound. 

"  A  very  good  name,  and,  I  dare  say,  handed  down  from 
honest  forefathers.  I'm  an  admirator  of  names,  though  the 
Christian  fashions  fall  far  below  savage  customs  in  this 
particular.  The  biggest  coward  I  ever  knew  was  called 
Lyon ;  and  his  wife,  Patience,  would  scold  you  out  of  hear- 
ing in  less  time  than  a  hunted  deer  would  run  a  rod.  With 
an  Indian  'tis  a  matter  of  conscience;  what  he  calls  him- 
self, he  generally  is — not  that  Chingachgook,  which  signi- 
fies big  sarpent,  is  really  a  snake,  big  or  little;  but  that  he 
understands  the  windings  and  turnings  of  human  natur',  and 
is  silent,  and  strikes  his  enemies  when  they  least  expect 
him. — What  may  be  your  calling?  " 

"  I  am  an  unworthy  instructor  in  the  art  of  psalmody." 

"Anan!" 

"  I  teach  singing  to  the  youths  of  the  Connecticut  levy." 

"  You  might  be  better  employed.  The  young  hounds  go 
laughing  and  singing  too  much  already  through  the  woods, 
when  they  ought  not  to  breathe  louder  than  a  fox  in  his 
cover.     Can  you  use  the  smooth  bore,  or  handle  the  rifle  ?  " 

"  Praised  be  God,  I  have  never  had  occasion  to  meddle 
with  murderous  implements!  " 

"  Perhaps  you  understand  the  compass,  and  lay  down  the 
watercourses  and  mountains  of  the  wilderness  on  paper,  in 
order  that  they  who  follow  may  find  places  by  their  given 
names? " 

"  I  practise  no  such  employment." 

"  You  have  a  pair  of  legs  that  might  make  a  long  path 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  7 1 

seem  short!  you  journey  sometimes,  I  fancy,  with  tidings 
for  the  general." 

"  Never ;  I  follow  no  other  than  my  own  high  vocation, 
which  is  instruction  in  sacred  music!  " 

"  'Tis  a  strange  calling!"  muttered  Hawk-eye,  with  an 
inward  laugh,  "  to  go  through  life,  like  a  cat-bird,  mocking 
all  the  ups  and  downs  that  may  happen  to  come  out  of  other 
men's  throats.  Well,  friend,  I  suppose  it  is  your  gift,  and 
mustn't  be  denied  any  more  than  if  'twas  shooting,  or  some 
other  better  inclination.  Let  us  hear  what  you  can  do  in 
that  way;  'twill  be  a  friendly  manner  of  saying  good-night, 
for  'tis  time  that  these  ladies  should  be  getting  strength  for 
a  hard  and  a  long  push,  in  the  pride  of  the  morning,  afore 
the  Maquas  are  stirring." 

"With  joyful  pleasure  do  I  consent,"  said  David,  adjust- 
ing his  iron-rimmed  spectacles,  and  producing  his  beloved 
little  volume,  which  he  immediately  tendered  to  Alice. 
"  What  can  be  more  fitting  and  consolatory  than  to  offer 
up  evening  praise,  after  a  day  of  such  exceeding  jeop- 
ardy !  " 

Alice  smiled;  but  regarding  Hey  ward,  she  blushed  and 
hesitated. 

"Indulge  yourself,"  he  whispered:  "ought  not  the  sug- 
gestion of  the  worthy  namesake  of  the  Psalmist  to  have  its 
weight  at  such  a  moment?  " 

Encouraged  by  his  opinion,  Alice  did  what  her  pious  in- 
clinations and  her  keen  relish  for  gentle  sounds,  had  before 
so  strongly  urged.  The  book  was  opened  at  a  hymn  not 
ill  adapted  to  their  situation,  and  in  which  the  poet,  no 
longer  goaded  by  his  desire  to  excel  the  inspired  King 
of  Israel,  had  discovered  some  chastened  and  respectable 
powers.  Cora  betrayed  a  disposition  to  support  her  sister, 
and  the  sacred  song  proceeded,  after  the  indispensable  pre- 
liminaries of  the  pitch-pipe  and  the  tune  had  been  duly 
attended  to  by  the  methodical  David. 

The  air  was  solemn  and  slow.     At  times  it  rose  to  the 


J2  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

fullest  compass  of  the  rich  voices  of  the  females,  who  hung 
over  their  little  book  in  holy  excitement,  and  again  it  sank 
so  low,  that  the  rushing  of  the  waters  ran  through  their 
melody,  like  a  hollow  accompaniment.  The  natural  taste 
and  true  ear  of  David  governed  and  modified  the  sounds  to 
suit  the  confined  cavern,  every  crevice  and  cranny  of  which 
was  filled  with  the  thrilling  notes  of  their  flexible  voices. 
The  Indians  riveted  their  eyes  on  the  rocks,  and  listened 
with  an  attention  that  seemed  to  turn  them  into  stone.  But 
the  scout,  who  had  placed  his  chin  in  his  hand,  with  an  ex- 
pression of  cold  indifference,  gradually  suffered  his  rigid 
features  to  relax,  until,  as  verse  succeeded  verse,  he  felt  his 
iron  nature  subdued,  while  his  recollection  was  carried  back 
to  boyhood,  when  his  ears  had  been  accustomed  to  listen  to 
similar  sounds  of  praise,  in  the  settlements  of  the  colony. 
His  roving  eyes  began  to  moisten,  and  before  the  hymn  was 
ended,  scalding  tears  rolled  out  of  fountains  that  had  long 
seemed  dry,  and  followed  each  other  down  those  cheeks, 
that  had  oftener  felt  the  storms  of  heaven  than  any  testi- 
monials of  weakness.  The  singers  were  dwelling  on  one  of 
those  low,  dying  chords,  which  the  ear  devours  with  such 
greedy  rapture,  as  if  conscious  that  it  is  about  to  lose  them, 
when  a  cry,  that  seemed  neither  human  nor  earthly,  rose  in 
the  outward  air,  penetrating  not  only  the  recesses  of  the 
cavern,  but  to  the  inmost  hearts  of  all  who  heard  it.  It  was 
followed  by  a  stillness  apparently  as  deep  as  if  the  waters 
had  been  checked  in  their  furious  progress,  at  such  a  horrid 
and  unusual  interruption. 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  murmured  Alice,  after  a  few  moments  of 
terrible  suspense. 

"  What  is  it?  "  repeated  Heyward,  aloud. 

Neither  Hawk-eye  nor  the  Indians  made  any  reply.  They 
listened,  as  if  expecting  the  sound  would  be  repeated,  with 
a  manner  that  expressed  their  own  astonishment.  At 
length,  they  spoke  together,  earnestly,  in  the  Delaware 
language,  when  Uncas,  passing  by  the  inner  and  most  con- 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  73 

cealed  aperture,  cautiously  left  the  cavern.  When  he  had 
gone,  the  scout  first  spoke  in  English. 

"  What  it  is,  or  what  it  is  not,  none  here  can  tell ;  though 
two  of  us  have  ranged  the  woods  for  more  than  thirty  years! 
I  did  believe  there  was  no  cry  that  Indian  or  beast  could 
make,  that  my  ears  had  not  heard ;  but  this  has  proved  that 
I  was  only  a  vain  and  conceited  mortal !  " 

"  Was  it  not,  then,  the  shout  the  warriors  make  when  they 
wish  to  intimidate  their  enemies?  "  asked  Cora,  who  stood 
drawing  her  veil  about  her  person,  with  a  calmness  to 
which  her  agitated  sister  was  a  stranger. 

"  No,  no ;  this  was  bad,  and  shocking,  and  had  a  sort  of 
unhuman  sound ;  but  when  you  once  hear  the  war-whoop, 
you  will  never  mistake  it  for  anything  else!  Well,  Un- 
cas!"  speaking  in  Delaware  to  the  young  chief  as  he  re- 
entered, "what  see  you?  do  our  lights  shine  through  the 
blankets?" 

The  answer  was  short,  and  apparently  decided,  being 
given  in  the  same  tongue. 

"  There  is  nothing  to  be  seen  without,"  continued  Hawk- 
eye,  shaking  his  head  in  discontent;  "and our  hiding-place 
is  still  in  darkness!  Pass  into  the  other  cave,  you  that 
need  it,  and  seek  for  sleep ;  we  must  be  afoot  long  before 
the  sun,  and  make  the  most  of  our  time  to  get  to  Edward, 
while  the  Mingoes  are  taking  their  morning  nap." 

Cora  set  the  example  of  compliance,  with  a  steadiness 
that  taught  the  more  timid  Alice  the  necessity  of  obedience. 
Before  leaving  the  place,  however,  she  whispered  a  request 
to  Duncan  that  he  would  follow.  Uncas  raised  the  blanket 
for  their  passage,  and  as  the  sisters  turned  to  thank  him  for 
this  act  of  attention,  they  saw  the  scout  seated  again  before 
the  dying  embers,  with  his  face  resting  on  his  hands,  in  a 
manner  which  showed  how  deeply  he  brooded  on  the  unac- 
countable interruption  which  had  broken  up  their  evening 
devotions. 

Heyward  took  with  him  a  blazing  knot,  which  threw  a 


74  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

dim  light  through  the  narrow  vista  of  their  new  apartment 
Placing  it  in  a  favorable  position,  he  joined  the  females, 
who  now  found  themselves  alone  with  him  for  the  first  time 
since  they  had  left  the  friendly  ramparts  of  Fort  Edward. 

"Leave  us  not,  Duncan,"  said  Alice;  "we  cannot  sleep 
in  such  a  place  as  this,  with  that  horrid  cry  still  ringing  in 
our  ears! " 

"  First  let  us  examine  into  the  security  of  your  fortress," 
he  answered,  "  and  then  we  will  speak  of  rest." 

He  approached  the  further  end  of  the  cavern,  to  an  out- 
let, which,  like  the  others,  was  concealed  by  blankets,  and 
removing  the  thick  screen,  breathed  the  fresh  and  reviving 
air  from  the  cataract.  One  arm  of  the  river  flowed  through 
a  deep,  narrow  ravine,  which  its  current  had  worn  in  the 
soft  rock,  directly  beneath  his  feet,  forming  an  effectual 
defence,  as  he  believed,  against  any  danger  from  that  quar- 
ter; the  water,  a  few  rods  above  them,  plunging,  glancing, 
and  sweeping  along,  in  its  most  violent  and  broken  manner. 

"Nature  has  made  an  impenetrable  barrier  on  this  side," 
he  continued,  pointing  down  the  perpendicular  declivity 
into  the  dark  current,  before  he  dropped  the  blanket;  "  and 
as  you  know  that  good  men  and  true  are  on  guard  in  front, 
I  see  no  reason  why  the  advice  of  our  honest  host  should 
be  disregarded.  I  am  certain  Cora  will  join  me  in  saying, 
that  sleep  is  necessary  to  you  both." 

"  Cora  may  submit  to  the  justice  of  your  opinion,  though 
she  cannot  put  it  in  practice,"  returned  the  elder  sister,  who 
had  placed  herself  by  the  side  of  Alice,  on  a  couch  of  sassa- 
fras; "there  would  be  other  causes  to  chase  away  sleep, 
though  we  had  been  spared  the  shock  of  this  mysterious 
noise.  Ask  yourself,  Heyward,  can  daughters  forget  the 
anxiety  a  father  must  endure,  whose  children  lodge,  he 
knows  not  where  or  how,  in  such  a  wilderness,  and  in  the 
midst  of  so  many  perils?  " 

"  He  is  a  soldier,  and  knows  now  to  estimate  the  chances 
of  the  woods." 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  75 

"  He  is  a  father,  and  cannot  deny  his  nature." 

" How  kind  has  he  ever  been  to  all  my  follies!  how  ten- 
der and  indulgent  to  all  my  wishes !  "  sobbed  Alice.  "  We 
have  been  selfish,  sister,  in  urging  our  visit  at  such  haz- 
ard!" 

"  I  may  have  been  rash  in  pressing  his  consent  in  a  mo- 
ment of  so  much  embarrassment,  but  I  would  have  proved  to 
him,  that  however  others  might  neglect  him  in  his  strait,  his 
children  at  least  were  faithful !  " 

"  When  he  heard  of  your  arrival  at  Edward,"  said  Hey- 
ward,  kindly,  "  there  was  a  powerful  struggle  in  his  bosom 
between  fear  and  love;  though  the  latter,  heightened,  if  pos- 
sible, by  so  long  a  separation,  quickly  prevailed.  *  It  is 
the  spirit  of  my  noble-minded  Cora  that  leads  them,  Dun- 
can,' he  said,  *  and  I  will  not  balk  it.  Would  to  God,  that 
he  who  holds  the  honor  of  our  royal  master  in  his  guardian- 
ship, would  show  but  half  her  firmness ! ' " 

"  And  did  he  not  speak  of  me,  Hey  ward  ?  "  demanded 
Alice,  with  jealous  affection.  "  Surely,  he  forgot  not  alto- 
gether his  little  Elsie! " 

"That  were  impossible,"  returned  the  young  man;  "he 
called  you  by  a  thousand  endearing  epithets,  that  I  may  not 
presume  to  use,  but  to  the  justice  of  which  I  can  warmly 
testify.     Once,  indeed,  he  said " 

Duncan  ceased  speaking;  for  while  his  eyes  were  riveted 
on  those  of  Alice,  who  had  turned  toward  him  with  the 
eagerness  of  filial  affection,  to  catch  his  words,  the  same 
strong,  horrid  cry,  as  before,  filled  the  air,  and  rendered 
him  mute.  A  long,  breathless  silence  succeeded,  during 
which  each  looked  at  the  others  in  fearful  expectation  of 
hearing  the  sound  repeated.  At  length,  the  blanket  was 
slowly  raised,  and  the  scout  stood  in  the  aperture  with  a 
countenance  whose  firmness  evidently  began  to  give  way, 
before  a  mystery  that  seemed  to  threaten  some  danger, 
against  which  all  his  cunning  and  experience  might  prove 
of  no  avail. 


j6  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

"They  do  not  sleep. 
On  yonder  cliffs,  a  grisly  band, 
I  see  them  sit."  Gray. 

"'Twould  be  neglecting  a  warning  that  is  given  for  our 
good,  to  lie  hid  any  longer,"  said  Hawk-eye,  "when  such 
sounds  are  raised  in  the  forest !  These  gentle  ones  may  keep 
close,  but  the  Mohicans  and  I  will  watch  upon  the  rock, 
where  I  suppose  a  major  of  the  6oth  would  wish  to  keep  us 
company." 

"Is  then  our  danger  so  pressing?  "  asked  Cora. 

"  He  who  makes  strange  sounds,  and  gives  them  out  for 
man's  information,  alone  knows  our  danger.  I  should  think 
myself  wicked,  unto  rebellion  against  his  will,  was  I  to  bur- 
row with  such  warnings  in  the  air!  Even  the  weak  soul 
who  passes  his  days  in  singing,  is  stirred  by  the  cry,  and,  as 
he  says,  is  '  ready  to  go  forth  to  the  battle.'  If  'twere  only 
a  battle,  it  would  be  a  thing  understood  by  us  all,  and  easi- 
ly managed;  but  I  have  heard  that  when  such  shrieks  are 
atween  heaven  and  'arth,  it  betokens  another  sort  of  war- 
fare!" 

"  If  all  our  reasons  for  fear,  my  friend,  are  confined  to 
such  as  proceed  from  supernatural  causes,  we  have  but  little 
occasion  to  be  alarmed,"  continued  the  undisturbed  Cora; 
"  are  you  certain  that  our  enemies  have  not  invented  some 
new  and  ingenious  method  to  strike  us  with  terror,  that  their 
conquest  may  become  more  easy  ?  " 

"  Lady,"  returned  the  scout,  solemnly,  "  I  have  listened 
to  all  the  sounds  of  the  woods  for  thirty  years,  as  a  man  will 
listen,  whose  life  and  death  depend  on  the  quickness  of  his 
ears.  There  is  no  whine  of  the  panther ;  no  whistle  of  the 
cat-bird;  nor  any  invention  of  the  devilish  Mingoes,  that 
can  cheat  me!     I  have  heard  the  forest  moan  like  mortal 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  f] 

men  in  their  affliction ;  often,  and  again,  have  I  listened  to 
the  wind  playing  its  music  in  the  branches  of  the  girdled 
trees;  and  I  have  heard  the  lightning  cracking  in  the  air, 
like  the  snapping  of  blazing  brush,  as  it  spitted  forth  sparks 
and  forked  flames ;  but  never  have  I  thought  that  I  heard 
more  than  the  pleasure  of  Him  who  sported  with  the  things 
of  his  hand.  But  neither  the  Mohicans,  nor  I,  who  am  a 
white  man  without  a  cross,  can  explain  the  cry  just  heard. 
We,  therefore,  believe  it  a  sign  given  for  our  good." 

"It  is  extraordinary!  "  said  Heyward,  taking  his  pistols 
from  the  place  where  he  had  laid  them  on  entering;  "be 
it  a  sign  of  peace  or  a  signal  of  war,  it  must  be  looked  to. 
Lead  the  way,  my  friend ;  I  follow." 

On  issuing  from  their  place  of  confinement,  the  whole 
party  instantly  experienced  a  grateful  renovation  of  spir- 
its, by  exchanging  the  pent  air  of  the  hiding-place  for  the 
cool  and  invigorating  atmosphere  which  played  around  the 
whirlpools  and  pitches  of  the  cataract.  A  heavy  evening 
breeze  swept  along  the  surface  of  the  river,  and  seemed  to 
drive  the  roar  of  the  falls  into  the  recesses  of  their  own  cav- 
erns, whence  it  issued  heavily  and  constant,  like  thunder 
rumbling  beyond  the  distant  hills.  The  moon  had  risen, 
and  its  light  was  already  glancing  here  and  there  on  the 
waters  above  them ;  but  the  extremity  of  the  rock  where 
they  stood  still  lay  in  shadow.  With  the  exception  of  the 
sounds  produced  by  the  rushing  waters,  and  an  occasional 
breathing  of  the  air,  as  it  murmured  past  them  in  fitful  cur- 
rents, the  scene  was  as  still  as  night  and  solitude  could 
make  it.  In  vain  were  the  eyes  of  each  individual  bent 
along  the  opposite  shores,  in  quest  of  some  signs  of  life, 
that  might  explain  the  nature  of  the  interruption  they  had 
heard.  Their  anxious  and  eager  looks  were  baffled  by  the 
deceptive  light,  or  rested  only  on  naked  rocks,  and  straight 
and  immovable  trees. 

"  Here  is  nothing  to  be  seen  but  the  gloom  and  quiet  of  a 
lovely  evening,"  whispered  Duncan ;  "  how  much  should  we 


yS  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

prize  such  a  scene,  and  all  this  breathing  solitude,  at  any 
other  moment,  Cora!  Fancy  yourselves  in  security,  and 
what  now,  perhaps,  increases  your  terror,  may  be  made  con- 
ducive to  enjoyment " 

"Listen!"  interrupted  Alice. 

The  caution  was  unnecessary.  Once  more  the  same 
sound  arose,  as  if  from  the  bed  of  the  river,  and  having 
broken  out  of  the  narrow  bounds  of  the  cliffs,  was  heard  un- 
dulating through  the  forest,  in  distant  and  dying  cadences. 

"Can  any  here  give  a  name  to  such  a  cry?  "  demanded 
Hawk-eye,  when  the  last  echo  was  lost  in  the  woods;  "if 
so,  let  him  speak;  for  myself,  I  judge  it  not  to  belong  to 
'arth ! " 

"  Here,  then,  is  one  who  can  undeceive  you,"  said  Dun- 
can; "I  know  the  sound  full  well,  for  often  have  I  heard  it 
on  the  field  of  battle,  and  in  situations  which  are  frequent 
in  a  soldier's  life.  'Tis  the  horrid  shriek  that  a  horse  will 
give  in  his  agony;  oftener  drawn  from  him  in  pain,  though 
sometimes  in  terror.  My  charger  is  either  a  prey  to  the 
beasts  of  the  forest,  or  he  sees  his  danger,  without  the  power 
to  avoid  it.  The  sound  might  deceive  me  in  the  cavern,  but 
in  the  open  air  I  know  it  too  well  to  be  wrong." 

The  scout  and  his  companions  listened  to  this  simple  ex- 
planation with  the  interest  of  men  who  imbibe  new  ideas, 
at  the  same  time  that  they  get  rid  of  old  ones,  which  had 
proved  disagreeable  inmates.  The  two  latter  uttered  their 
usual  and  expressive  exclamation,  "hugh!"  as  the  truth 
first  glanced  upon  their  minds,  while  the  former,  after  a 
short  musing  pause,  took  upon  himself  to  reply. 

"  I  cannot  deny  your  words,"  he  said ;  "  for  I  am  little 
skilled  in  horses,  though  born  where  they  abound.  The 
wolves  must  be  hovering  above  their  heads  on  the  bank,  and 
the  timorsome  creatures  are  calling  on  man  for  help,  in  the 
best  manner  they  are  able,  Uncas  "—he  spoke  in  Delaware 
■ — "Uncas,  drop  down  in  the  canoe,  and  whirl  a  brand 
among  the  pack;  or  fear  may  do  what  the  wolves  can't  get 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  /9 

at  to  perform,  and  leave  us  without  horses  in  the  morning, 
when  we  shall  have  so  much  need  to  journey  swiftly!  " 

The  young  native  had  already  descended  to  the  water,  to 
comply,  when  a  long  howl  was  raised  on  the  edge  of  the 
river,  and  was  borne  swiftly  off  into  the  depths  of  the  forest, 
as  though  the  beasts,  of  their  own  accord,  were  abandoning 
their  prey  in  sudden  terror.  Uncas,  with  instinctive  quick- 
ness, receded,  and  the  three  foresters  held  another  of  their 
low,  earnest  conferences. 

"  We  have  been  like  hunters  who  have  lost  the  points  of 
the  heavens,  and  from  whom  the  sun  has  been  hid  for  days," 
said  Hawk-eye,  turning  away  from  his  companions;  "now 
we  begin  again  to  know  the  signs  of  our  course,  and  the 
paths  are  cleared  from  briers!  Seat  yourselves  in  the  shade 
which  the  moon  throws  from  yonder  beech — 'tis  thicker 
than  that  of  the  pines — and  let  us  wait  for  that  which  the 
Lord  may  choose  to  send  next.  Let  all  your  conversation 
be  in  whispers;  though  it  would  be  better,  and  perhaps,  in 
the  end,  wiser,  if  each  one  held  discourse  with  his  own 
thoughts,  for  a  time." 

The  manner  of  the  scout  was  seriously  impressive,  though 
no  longer  distinguished  by  any  signs  of  unmanly  apprehen- 
sion. It  was  evident  that  his  momentary  weakness  had  van- 
ished with  the  explanation  of  a  mystery  which  his  own  expe- 
rience had  not  served  to  fathom ;  and  though  he  now  felt  all 
the  realities  of  their  actual  condition,  that  he  was  prepared 
to  meet  them  with  the  energy  of  his  hardy  nature.  This 
feeling  seemed  also  common  to  the  natives,  who  placed 
themselves  in  positions  which  commanded  a  full  view  of 
both  shores,  while  their  own  persons  were  effectually  con- 
cealed from  observation.  In  such  circumstances,  common 
prudence  dictated  that  Hey  ward  and  his  companions  should 
imitate  a  caution  that  proceeded  from  so  intelligent  a 
source.  The  young  man  drew  a  pile  of  the  sassafras  from 
the  cave,  and  placing  it  in  the  chasm  which  separated  the 
two  caverns,  it  was  occupied  by  the  sisters ;  who  were  thus 


80  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

protected  by  the  rocks  from  any  missiles,  while  their  anxi 
ety  was  relieved  by  the  assurance  that  no  danger  could  ap- 
proach without  a  warning.  Heyward  himself  was  posted  at 
hand,  so  near  that  he  might  communicate  with  his  compan- 
ions without  raising  his  voice  to  a  dangerous  elevation; 
while  David,  in  imitation  of  the  woodsmen,  bestowed  his 
person  in  such  a  manner  among  the  fissures  of  the  rocks, 
that  his  ungainly  limbs  were  no  longer  offensive  to  the  eye. 

In  this  manner,  hours  passed  by  without  further  interrup- 
tion. The  moon  reached  the  zenith,  and  shed  its  mild  light 
perpendicularly  on  the  lovely  sight  of  the  sisters  slumbering 
peacefully  in  each  other's  arms.  Duncan  cast  the  wide 
shawl  of  Cora  before  a  spectacle  he  so  much  loved  to  con- 
template, and  then  suffered  his  own  head  to  seek  a  pillow 
on  the  rock.  David  began  to  utter  sounds  that  would  have 
shocked  his  delicate  organs  in  more  wakeful  moments,  in 
short,  all  but  Hawk-eye  and  the  Mohicans  lost  every  idea 
of  consciousness,  in  uncontrollable  drowsiness.  But  the 
watchfulness  of  these  vigilant  protectors  neither  tired  nor 
slumbered.  Immovable  as  that  rock,  of  which  each  appeared 
to  form  a  part,  they  lay,  with  their  eyes  roving,  without  in- 
termission, along  the  dark  margin  of  trees  that  bounded  the 
adjacent  shores  of  the  narrow  stream.  Not  a  sound  escaped 
them;  the  most  subtle  examination  could  not  have  told  they 
breathed.  It  was  evident  that  this  excess  of  caution  pro- 
ceeded from  an  experience  that  no  subtlety  on  the  part  of 
their  enemies  could  deceive.  It  was,  however,  continued 
without  any  apparent  consequences,  until  the  moon  had  set, 
and  a  pale  streak  above  the  tree-tops,  at  the  bend  of  the 
river  a  little  below,  announced  the  approach  of  day. 

Then,  for  the  first  time,  Hawk-eye  was  seen  to  stir.  He 
crawled  along  the  rock,  and  shook  Duncan  from  his  heavy 
slumbers. 

"Now  is  the  time  to  journey,"  he  whispered;  "  awake  the 
gentle  ones,  and  be  ready  to  get  into  the  canoe  when  I  bring 
it  to  the  landing-place." 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  8 1 

"Have  you  had  a  quiet  night?"  said  Heyward;  "for 
myself,  I  believe  sleep  has  got  the  better  of  my  vigilance." 

"  All  is  yet  still  as  midnight.     Be  silent,  but  be  quick." 

By  this  time  Duncan  was  thoroughly  awake,  and  he  im- 
mediately lifted  the  shawl  from  the  sleeping  females.  The 
motion  caused  Cora  to  raise  her  hand  as  if  to  repulse  him, 
while  Alice  murmured,  in  her  soft  gentle  voice,  "  No,  no, 
dear  father,  we  were  not  deserted ;  Duncan  was  with  us !  " 

"Yes,  sweet  innocence,"  whispered  the  youth;  "Duncan 
is  here,  and  while  life  continues  or  danger  remains,  he  will 
never  quit  thee.  Cora!  Alice!  awake!  The  hour  has  come 
to  move !  " 

A  loud  shriek  from  the  younger  of  the  sisters,  and  the 
form  of  the  other  standing  upright  before  him,  in  bewildered 
horror,  was  the  unexpected  answer  he  received.  While  the 
words  were  still  on  the  lips  of  Heyward,  there  had  arisen 
such  a  tumult  of  yells  and  cries  as  served  to  drive  the  swift 
currents  of  his  own  blood  back  from  its  bounding  course 
into  the  fountains  of  his  heart.  It  seemed,  for  near  a  min- 
ute, as  if  the  demons  of  hell  had  possessed  themselves  of 
the  air  about  them,  and  were  venting  their  savage  humors 
in  barbarous  sounds.  The  cries  came  from  no  particular 
direction,  though  it  was  evident  they  filled  the  woods,  and 
as  the  appalled  listeners  easily  imagined,  the  caverns  of  the 
falls,  the  rocks,  the  bed  of  the  river,  and  the  upper  air. 
David  raised  his  tall  person  in  the  midst  of  the  infernal  din, 
with  a  hand  on  either  ear,  exclaiming — 

"Whence  comes  this  discord!  Has  hell  broke  loose, 
that  man  should  utter  sounds  like  these !  " 

The  bright  flashes  and  the  quick  reports  of  a  dozen  rifles, 
from  the  opposite  banks  of  the  stream,  followed  this  incau- 
tious exposure  of  his  person,  and  left  the  unfortunate  sing- 
ing-master senseless  on  that  rock  where  he  had  been  so  long 
slumbering.  The  Mohicans  boldly  sent  back  the  intimidat- 
ing yell  of  their  enemies,  who  raised  a  shout  of  savage  tri- 
umph at  the  fall  of  Gamut.  The  flash  of  rifles  was  then 
6 


82  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

quick  and  close  between  them,  but  either  party  was  too  well 
skilled  to  leave  even  a  limb  exposed  to  the  hostile  aim. 
Duncan  listened  with  intense  anxiety  for  the  strokes  of  the 
paddle,  believing  that  flight  was  now  their  only  refuge. 
The  river  glanced  by  with  its  ordinary  velocity,  but  the  canoe 
was  nowhere  to  be  seen  on  its  dark  waters.  He  had  just 
fancied  they  were  cruelly  deserted  by  the  scout,  as  a  stream 
of  flame  issued  from  the  rock  beneath  him,  and  a  fierce  yell, 
blended  with  a  shriek  of  agony,  announced  that  the  messen- 
ger of  death,  sent  from  the  fatal  weapon  of  Hawk-eye,  had 
found  a  victim.  At  this  slight  repulse  the  assailants  in- 
stantly withdrew,  and  gradually  the  place  became  as  still  as 
before  the  sudden  tumult. 

Duncan  seized  the  favorable  moment  to  spring  to  the  body 
of  Gamut,  which  he  bore  within  the  shelter  of  the  narrow 
chasm  that  protected  the  sisters.  In  another  minute  the 
whole  party  was  collected  in  this  spot  of  comparative  safety. 

"The  poor  fellow  has  saved  his  scalp,"  said  Hawk-eye, 
coolly  passing  his  hand  over  the  head  of  David;  "but  he 
is  a  proof  that  a  man  may  be  born  with  too  long  a  tongue! 
'Twas  downright  madness  to  show  six  feet  of  flesh  and  blood, 
on  a  naked  rock,  to  the  raging  savages.  I  only  wonder  he 
has  escaped  with  life." 

"  Is  he  not  dead  ?  "  demanded  Cora,  in  a  voice  whose 
husky  tones  showed  how  powerfully  natural  horror  strug- 
gled with  her  assumed  firmness.  "  Can  we  do  aught  to  as- 
sist the  wretched  man  ?  " 

"No,  no!  the  life  is  in  his  heart  yet,  and  after  he  has 
slept  awhile  he  will  come  to  himself,  and  be  a  wiser  man 
for  it,  till  the  hour  of  his  real  time  shall  come,"  returned 
Hawk-eye,  casting  another  oblique  glance  at  the  insensible 
body,  while  he  filled  his  charger  with  admirable  nicety. 
"  Carry  him  in,  Uncas,  and  lay  him  on  the  sassafras.  The 
longer  his  nap  lasts  the  better  it  will  be  for  him,  as  I  doubt 
whether  he  can  find  a  proper  cover  for  such  a  shape  on  these 
rocks,  and  singing  won't  do  any  good  with  the  Iroquois." 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  83 

"You  believe,  then,  the  attack  will  be  renewed?  asked 
Heyward. 

"  Do  I  expect  a  hungry  wolf  will  satisfy  his  craving  with 
a  mouthful !  They  have  lost  a  man,  and  'tis  their  fashion, 
when  they  meet  a  loss,  and  fail  in  the  surprise,  to  fall  back; 
but  we  shall  have  them  on  again,  with  new  expedients  to 
circumvent  us,  and  master  our  scalps.  Our  main  hope,"  he 
continued,  raising  his  rugged  countenance,  across  which  a 
shade  of  anxiety  just  then  passed  like  a  darkening  cloud, 
"  will  be  to  keep  the  rock  until  Munro  can  send  a  party  to 
our  help!  God  send  it  may  be  soon,  and  under  a  leader 
that  knows  the  Indian  customs!  " 

"You  hear  our  probable  fortunes,  Cora,"  said  Duncan; 
"  and  you  know  we  have  everything  to  hope  from  the  anxiety 
and  experience  of  your  father.  Come,  then,  with  Alice, 
into  this  cavern,  where  you,  at  least,  will  be  safe  from  the 
murderous  rifles  of  our  enemies,  and  where  you  may  bestow 
a  care  suited  to  your  gentle  natures  on  our  unfortunate  com- 
rade." 

The  sisters  followed  him  into  the  outer  cave,  where  David 
was  beginning,  by  his  sighs,  to  give  symptoms  of  returning 
consciousness,  and  then  commending  the  wounded  man  to 
their  attention,  he  immediately  prepared  to  leave  them. 

"  Duncan !  "  said  the  tremulous  voice  of  Cora,  when  he 
had  reached  the  mouth  of  the  cavern.  He  turned,  and  be- 
held the  speaker,  whose  color  had  changed  to  a  deadly  pale- 
ness, and  whose  lip  quivered,  gazing  after  him,  with  an  ex- 
pression of  interest  which  immediately  recalled  him  to  her 
side.  "  Remember,  Duncan,  how  necessary  your  safety  is  to 
our  own — how  you  bear  a  father's  sacred  trust — how  much 
depends  on  your  discretion  and  care — in  short,"  she  added, 
while  the  tell-tale  blood  stole  over  her  features,  crimsoning 
her  very  temples,  "  how  very  deservedly  dear  you  are  to  all 
of  the  name  of  Munro." 

"  If  anything  could  add  to  my  own  base  love  of  life,"  said 
Heyward,  suffering  his  unconscious  eyes  to  wander  to  the 


84  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

youthful  form  of  the  silent  Alice,  "  it  would  be  so  kind  an 
assurance.  As  major  of  the  60th,  our  honest  host  will  tell 
you  I  must  take  my  share  of  the  fray;  but  our  task  will  be 
easy;  it  is  merely  to  keep  these  bloodhounds  at  bay  for  a 
few  hours." 

Without  waiting  for  reply,  he  tore  himself  from  the  pres- 
ence of  the  sisters,  and  joined  the  scout  and  his  companions, 
who  still  lay  within  the  protection  of  the  little  chasm  be- 
tween the  two  caves. 

"  I  tell  you,  Uncas,"  said  the  former,  as  Heyward  joined 
them,  "you  are  wasteful  of  your  powder,  and  the  kick  of  the 
rifle  disconcerts  your  aim !  Little  powder,  light  lead,  and  a 
long  arm,  seldom  fail  of  bringing  the  death-screech  from  a 
Mingo!  At  least,  such  has  been  my  experience  with  the 
creatur's.  Come,  friends;  let  us  to  our  covers,  for  no  man 
can  tell  when  or  where  a  Maqua  *  will  strike  his  blow." 

The  Indians  silently  repaired  to  their  appointed  stations, 
which  were  fissures  in  the  rocks,  whence  they  could  com- 
mand the  approaches  to  the  foot  of  the  falls.  In  the  centre 
of  the  little  island,  a  few  short  and  stunted  pines  had  found 
root,  forming  a  thicket,  into  which  Hawk-eye  darted  with  the 
swiftness  of  a  deer,  followed  by  the  active  Duncan.  Here 
they  secured  themselves,  as  well  as  circumstances  would  per- 
mit, among  the  shrubs  and  fragments  of  stone  that  were 
scattered  about  the  place.  Above  them  was  a  bare,  rounded 
rock,  on  each  side  of  which  the  water  played  its  gambols, 
and  plunged  into  the  abysses  beneath,  in  the  manner  already 
described.  As  the  day  had  now  dawned,  the  opposite  shores 
no  longer  presented  a  confused  outline,  but  they  were  able 
to  look  into  the  woods,  and  distinguish  objects  beneath  the 
canopy  of  gloomy  pines. 

A  long  and  anxious  watch  succeeded,  but  without  any  fur- 
ther evidences  of  a  renewed  attack;  and  Duncan  began  to 


*  It  will  be  observed  that  Hawk-eye  applies  different  names  to  his  enemies.  Mingo 
and  Maqua  are  terms  of  contempt,  and  Iroquois  is  a  name  given  by  the  French.  The 
Indians  rarely  use  the  same  name  when  different  tribes  speak  of  each  other. 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  85 

hope  that  their  fire  had  proved  more  fatal  than  was  sup- 
posed, and  that  their  enemies  had  been  effectually  repulsed. 
When  he  ventured  to  utter  this  impression  to  his  companion, 
it  was  met  by  Hawk-eye  with  an  incredulous  shake  of  the 
head. 

"You  know  not  the  nature  of  a  Maqua,  if  you  think  he  is 
so  easily  beaten  back  without  a  scalp!  "  he  answered.  "If 
there  was  one  of  the  imps  yelling  this  morning,  there  were 
forty!  and  they  know  our  number  and  quality  too  well  to 
give  up  the  chase  so  soon.  Hist !  look  into  the  water  above, 
just  where  it  breaks  over  the  rocks.  I  am  no  mortal,  if  the 
risky  devils  haven't  swam  down  upon  the  very  pitch,  and,  as 
bad  luck  would  have  it,  they  have  hit  the  head  of  the  island. 
Hist!  man,  keep  close!  or  the  hair  will  be  off  your  crown 
in  the  turning  of  a  knife!  " 

Heyward  lifted  his  head  from  the  cover,  and  beheld  what 
he  justly  considered  a  prodigy  of  rashness  and  skill.  The 
river  had  worn  away  the  edge  of  the  soft  rock  in  such  a  man- 
ner, as  to  render  its  first  pitch  less  abrupt  and  perpendicu- 
lar than  is  usual  at  waterfalls.  With  no  other  guide  than 
the  ripple  of  the  stream  where  it  met  the  head  of  the  island, 
a  party  of  their  insatiable  foes  had  ventured  into  the  current, 
and  swam  down  upon  this  point,  knowing  the  ready  access 
it  would  give,  if  successful,  to  their  intended  victims.  As 
Hawk-eye  ceased  speaking,  four  human  heads  could  be  seen 
peering  above  a  few  logs  of  driftwood  that  had  lodged  on 
these  naked  rocks,  and  which  had  probably  suggested  the 
idea  of  the  practicability  of  the  hazardous  undertaking.  At 
the  next  moment,  a  fifth  form  was  seen  floating  over  the 
green  edge  of  the  fall,  a  little  from  the  line  of  the  island. 
The  savage  struggled  powerfully  to  gain  the  point  of  safety, 
and,  favored  by  the  glancing  water,  he  was  already  stretch- 
ing forth  an  arm  to  meet  the  grasp  of  his  companions,  when 
he  shot  away  again  with  the  whirling  current,  appeared  to 
rise  into  the  air,  with  uplifting  arms  and  starting  eyeballs, 
and  fell,  with  a  sullen  plunge,  into  that  deep  and  yawning 


86  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

abyss  over  which  he  hovered.  A  single,  wild,  despairing 
shriek  rose  from  the  cavern,  and  all  was  hushed  again,  as  the 
grave. 

The  first  generous  impulse  of  Duncan  was  to  rush  to  the 
rescue  of  the  hapless  wretch;  but  he  felt  himself  bound  to 
the  spot  by  the  iron  grasp  of  the  immovable  scout. 

"  Would  ye  bring  certain  death  upon  us,  by  telling  the 
Mingoes  where  we  lie?"  demanded  Hawk-eye,  sternly; 
"'tis  a  charge  of  powder  saved,  and  ammunition  is  as  pre- 
cious now  as  breath  to  a  worried  deer!  Freshen  the  prim- 
ing of  your  pistols — the  mist  of  the  falls  is  apt  to  dampen 
the  brimstone — and  stand  firm  for  a  close  struggle,  while  I 
fire  on  their  rush." 

He  placed  a  finger  in  his  mouth,  and  drew  a  long,  shrill 
whistle,  which  was  answered  from  the  rocks  that  were  guard- 
ed by  the  Mohicans.  Duncan  caught  glimpses  of  heads 
above  the  scattered  driftwood,  as  this  signal  rose  on  the  air, 
but  they  disappeared  again  as  suddenly  as  they  had  glanced 
upon  his  sight.  A  low,  rustling  sound  next  drew  his  atten- 
tion behind  him,  and,  turning  his  head,  he  beheld  Un- 
cas  within  a  few  feet,  creeping  to  his  side.  Hawk-eye 
spoke  to  him  in  Delaware,  when  the  young  chief  took  his 
position  with  singular  caution  and  undisturbed  coolness. 
To  Heyward  this  was  a  moment  of  feverish  and  impatient 
suspense;  though  the  scout  saw  fit  to  select  it  as  a  fit  occa- 
sion to  read  a  lecture  to  his  more  youthful  associates  on  the 
art  of  using  fire-arms  with  discretion. 

"Of  all  we'pons,"  he  commenced,  "the  long-barrelled, 
true-grooved,  soft-metalled  rifle,  is  the  most  dangerous  in 
skilful  hands,  though  it  wants  a  strong  arm,  a  quick  eye, 
and  great  judgment  in  charging,  to  put  forth  all  its  beau- 
ties. The  gunsmiths  can  have  but  little  insight  into  their 
trade,  when  they  make  their  fowling-pieces  and  short  horse 
men's " 

He  was  interrupted  by  the  low  but  expressive  "  hugh  "  of 
Uncas. 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  87 

"  I  see  them,  boy,  I  see  them !  "  continued  Hawk-eye ; 
"  they  are  gathering  for  the  rush,  or  they  would  keep  their 
dingy  backs  below  the  logs.  Well,  let  them,"  he  added,  ex- 
amining his  flint;  "the  leading  man  certainly  comes  on  to 
his  death,  though  it  should  be  Montcalm  himself!  " 

At  that  moment  the  woods  were  filled  with  another  burst 
of  cries,  and  at  the  signal  four  savages  sprang  from  the  cov- 
er of  the  driftwood.  Heyward  felt  a  burning  desire  to  rush 
forward  to  meet  them,  so  intense  was  the  delirious  anxiety 
of  the  moment;  but  he  was  restrained  by  the  deliberate  ex- 
amples of  the  scout  and  Uncas.  When  their  foes,  who  leaped 
over  the  black  rocks  that  divided  them,  with  long  bounds, 
uttering  the  wildest  yells,  were  within  a  few  rods,  the  rifle 
of  Hawk-eye  slowly  rose  among  the  shrubs,  and  poured  out 
its  fatal  contents.  The  foremost  Indian  bounded  like  a 
stricken  deer,  and  fell  headlong  among  the  clefts  of  the 
island. 

"  Now,  Uncas!  "  cried  the  scout,  drawing  his  long  knife, 
while  his  quick  eyes  began  to  flash  with  ardor,  "take  the 
last  of  the  screeching  imps;  of  the  other  two  we  are  sar- 
tain !  " 

He  was  obeyed;  and  but  two  enemies  remained  to  be 
overcome.  Heyward  had  given  one  of  his  pistols  to  Hawk- 
eye,  and  together  they  rushed  down  a  little  declivity  toward 
their  foes;  they  discharged  their  weapons  at  the  same  in- 
stant, and  equally  without  success. 

"I  know'd  it!  and  I  said  it!  "  muttered  the  scout,  whirl- 
ing the  despised  little  implement  over  the  falls  with  bitter 
disdain.  "Come  on,  ye  bloody-minded  hell-hounds!  ye 
meet  a  man  without  a  cross !  " 

The  words  were  barely  uttered,  when  he  encountered  a 
savage  of  gigantic  stature,  and  of  the  fiercest  mien.  At  the 
same  moment,  Duncan  found  himself  engaged  with  the  oth- 
er, in  a  similar  contest  of  hand  to  hand.  With  ready  skill, 
Hawk-eye  and  his  antagonist  each  grasped  that  uplifted 
arm  of  the  other  which  held  the  dangerous  knife.     For  near 


88  THE   LAST    OF   THE    MOHICANS. 

a  minute  they  stood  looking  one  another  in  the  eye,  and 
gradually  exerting  the  power  of  their  muscles  for  the  mas- 
tery. At  length,  the  toughened  sinews  of  the  white  man 
prevailed  over  the  less  practised  limbs  of  the  native.  The 
arm  of  the  latter  slowly  gave  way  before  the  increasing  force 
of  the  scout,  who,  suddenly  wresting  his  armed  hand  from 
the  grasp  of  his  foe,  drove  the  sharp  weapon  through  his 
naked  bosom  to  the  heart.  In  the  mean  time,  Heyward  had 
been  pressed  in  a  more  deadly  struggle.  His  slight  sword 
was  snapped  in  the  first  encounter.  As  he  was  destitute 
of  any  other  means  of  defence,  his  safety  now  depended  en- 
tirely on  bodily  strength  and  resolution.  Though  deficient 
in  neither  of  these  qualities,  he  had  met  an  enemy  every 
way  his  equal.  Happily,  he  soon  succeeded  in  disarming 
his  adversary,  whose  knife  fell  on  the  rock  at  their  feet;  and 
from  this  moment  it  became  a  fierce  struggle  who  should 
cast  the  other  over  the  dizzy  height  into  a  neighboring  cav- 
ern of  the  falls.  Every  successive  struggle  brought  them 
nearer  to  the  verge,  where  Duncan  perceived  the  final  and 
conquering  effort  must  be  made.  Each  of  the  combatants 
threw  all  his  energies  into  that  effort,  and  the  result  was, 
that  both  tottered  on  the  brink  of  the  precipice.  Heyward 
felt  the  grasp  of  the  other  at  his  throat,  and  saw  the  grim 
smile  the  savage  gave,  under  the  revengeful  hope  that  he 
hurried  his  enemy  to  a  fate  similar  to  his  own,  as  he  felt  his 
body  slowly  yielding  to  a  resistless  power,  and  the  young 
man  experienced  the  passing  agony  of  such  a  moment  in  all 
its  horrors.  At  that  instant  of  extreme  danger,  a  dark  hand 
and  glancing  knife  appeared  before  him;  the  Indian  re- 
leased his  hold,  as  the  blood  flowed  freely  from  around  the 
severed  tendons  of  his  wrist;  and  while  Duncan  was  drawn 
backward  by  the  saving  arm  of  Uncas,  his  charmed  eyes 
were  still  riveted  on  the  fierce  and  disappointed  counte- 
nance of  his  foe,  who  fell  sullenly  and  disappointed  down 
the  irrecoverable  precipice. 

"To  cover!  to  cover!"  cried  Hawk-eye,  who  just  then 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  89 

had  despatched  his  enemy;  " to  cover,  for  your  lives!  the 
work  is  but  half  ended!  " 

The  young  Mohican  gave  a  shout  of  triumph,  and,  fol- 
lowed by  Duncan,  he  glided  up  the  acclivity  they  had  de- 
scended to  the  combat,  and  sought  the  friendly  shelter  of  the 
rocks  and  shrubs. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


"  They  linger  yet, 
Avengers  of  their  native  land."  Gray. 

The  warning  call  of  the  scout  was  not  uttered  without  occa- 
sion. During  the  occurrence  of  the  deadly  encounter  just 
related,  the  roar  of  the  falls  was  unbroken  by  any  human 
sound  whatever.  It  would  seem  that  interest  in  the  result 
had  kept  the  natives  on  the  opposite  shores  in  breathless 
suspense,  while  the  quick  evolutions  and  swift  changes  in 
the  positions  of  the  combatants  effectually  prevented  a  fire 
that  might  prove  dangerous  alike  to  friend  and  enemy.  But 
the  moment  the  struggle  was  decided,  a  yell  arose  as  fierce 
and  savage  as  wild  and  revengeful  passions  could  throw 
into  the  air.  It  was  followed  by  the  swift  flashes  of  the 
rifles,  which  sent  their  leaden  messengers  across  the  rock 
in  volleys,  as  though  the  assailants  would  pour  out  their 
impotent  fury  on  the  insensible  scene  of  the  fatal  contest. 

A  steady,  though  deliberate  return  was  made  from  the  rifle 
of  Chingachgook,  who  had  maintained  his  post  throughout 
the  fray  with  unmoved  resolution.  When  the  triumphant 
shout  of  Uncas  was  borne  to  his  ears,  the  gratified  father 
raised  his  voice  in  a  single  responsive  cry,  after  which  his 
busy  piece  alone  proved  that  he  still  guarded  his  pass  with 
unwearied  diligence.  In  this  manner  many  minutes  flew 
by  with  the  swiftness  of  thought:  the  rifles  of  the  assailants 
speaking,  at  times,  in  rattling  volleys,  and  at  others  in  occa- 
sional, scattering  shots.  Though  the  rock,  the  trees,  and 
tfce  shrubs,  were  cut  and  torn  in  a  hundred  places  around 


90  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

the  besieged,  their  cover  was  so  close,  and  so  rigidly  main- 
tained, that,  as  yet,  David  had  been  the  only  sufferer  in  their 
little  band. 

"  Let  them  burn  their  powder,"  said  the  deliberate  scout, 
while  bullet  after  bullet  whizzed  by  the  place  where  he  se- 
curely lay;  "there  will  be  a  fine  gathering  of  lead  when  it 
is  over,  and  I  fancy  the  imps  will  tire  of  the  sport,  afore 
these  old  stones  cry  out  for  mercy!  Uncas,  boy,  you  waste 
the  kernels  by  overcharging:  and  a  kicking  rifle  never  car- 
ries a  true  bullet.  I  told  you  to  take  that  loping  miscreant 
under  the  line  of  white  paint;  now,  if  your  bullet  went  a 
hair's  breadth,  it  went  two  inches  above  it.  The  life  lies 
low  in  a  Mingo,  and  humanity  teaches  us  to  make  a  quick 
end  of  the  sarpents." 

A  quiet  smile  lighted  the  haughty  features  of  the  young 
Mohican,  betraying  his  knowledge  of  the  English  language, 
as  well  as  of  the  other's  meaning;  but  he  suffered  it  to  pass 
away  without  vindication  or  reply. 

"  I  cannot  permit  you  to  accuse  Uncas  of  want  of  judg- 
ment or  of  skill,"  said  Duncan;  "he  saved  my  life  in  the 
coolest  and  readiest  manner,  and  he  has  made  a  friend  who 
never  will  require  to  be  reminded  of  the  debt  he  owes." 

Uncas  partly  raised  his  body,  and  offered  his  hand  to  the 
grasp  of  Heyward.  During  this  act  of  friendship,  the  two 
young  men  exchanged  looks  of  intelligence  which  caused 
Duncan  to  forget  the  character  and  condition  of  his  wild 
associate.  In  the  mean  while,  Hawk-eye,  who  looked  on 
this  burst  of  youthful  feeling  with  a  cool  but  kind  regard, 
made  the  following  reply: 

"  Life  is  an  obligation  which  friends  often  owe  to  each 
other  in  the  wilderness.  I  dare  say  I  may  have  served  Un- 
cas some  such  turn  myself  before  now;  and  I  very  well  re- 
member that  he  has  stood  between  me  and  death  five  differ- 
ent times:  three  times  from  the  Mingoes,  once  in  crossing 
Horican,  and " 

"  That  bullet  was  better  aimed  than  common  !  "  exclaimed 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  9 1 

Duncan,  involuntarily  shrinking  from  a  shot  which  struck 
the  rock  at  his  side  with  a  smart  rebound. 

Hawk-eye  laid  his  hand  on  the  shapeless  metal,  and  shook 
his  head,  as  he  examined  it,  saying,  "Falling  lead  is  never 
flattened!  had  it  come  from  the  clouds  this  might  have  hap- 
pened !  " 

But  the  rifle  of  Uncas  was  deliberately  raised  toward  the 
heavens,  directing  the  eyes  of  his  companions  to  a  point 
where  the  mystery  was  immediately  explained.  A  ragged 
oak  grew  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river,  nearly  opposite  to 
their  position,  which,  seeking  the  freedom  of  the  open  space, 
had  inclined  so  far  forward,  that  its  upper  branches  over- 
hung that  arm  of  the  stream  which  flowed  nearest  to  its  own 
shore.  Among  the  topmost  leaves,  which  scantily  concealed 
the  gnarled  and  stunted  limbs,  a  savage  was  nestled,  partly 
concealed  by  the  trunk  of  the  tree,  and  partly  exposed,  as 
though  looking  down  upon  them  to  ascertain  the  effect  pro- 
duced by  his  treacherous  aim. 

"  These  devils  will  scale  heaven  to  circumvent  us  to  our 
ruin,"  said  Hawk-eye;  "keep  him  in  play,  boy,  until  I  can 
bring  '  killdeer  '  to  bear,  when  we  will  try  his  metal  on  each 
side  of  the  tree  at  once." 

Uncas  delayed  his  fire  until  the  scout  uttered  the  word. 
The  rifles  flashed,  the  leaves  and  bark  of  the  oak  flew 
into  the  air,  and  were  scattered  by  the  wind,  but  the  Indian 
answered  their  assault  by  a  taunting  laugh,  sending  down 
upon  them  another  bullet  in  return,  that  struck  the  cap  of 
Hawk-eye  from  his  head.  Once  more  the  savage  yells 
burst  out  of  the  woods,  and  the  leaden  hail  whistled  above 
the  heads  of  the  besieged,  as  if  to  confine  them  to  a  place 
where  they  might  become  easy  victims  to  the  enterprise  of 
the  warrior  who  had  mounted  the  tree. 

"This  must  be  looked  to!"  said  the  scout,  glancing 
about  him  with  an  anxious  eye.  "  Uncas,  call  up  your 
father;  we  have  need  of  all  our  we'pons  to  bring  the  cun- 
ning varment  from  his  roost." 


92  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

The  signal  was  instantly  given ;  and,  before  Hawk-eye 
had  reloaded  h'is  rifle,  they  were  joined  by  Chingachgook. 
When  his  son  pointed  out  to  the  experienced  warrior  the 
situation  of  their  dangerous  enemy,  the  usual  exclamatory 
"hugh"  burst  from  his  lips;  after  which,  no  further  ex- 
pression of  surprise  or  alarm  was  suffered  to  escape  him. 
Hawk-eye  and  the  Mohicans  conversed  earnestly  together  in 
Delaware  for  a  few  moments,  when  each  quietly  took  his 
post,  in  order  to  execute  the  plan  they  had  speedily  devised. 

The  warrior  in  the  oak  had  maintained  a  quick  though 
ineffectual  fire,  from  the  moment  of  his  discovery.  But  his 
aim  was  interrupted  by  the  vigilance  of  his  enemies,  whose 
rifles  instantaneously  bore  on  any  part  of  his  person  that  was 
left  exposed.  Still  his  bullets  fell  in  the  centre  of  the 
crouching  party.  The  clothes  of  Heyward,  which  rendered 
him  peculiarly  conspicuous,  were  repeatedly  cut,  and  once 
blood  was  drawn  from  a  slight  wound  in  his  arm. 

At  length,  emboldened  by  the  long  and  patient  watchful- 
ness of  his  enemies,  the  Huron  attempted  a  better  and  more 
fatal  aim.  The  quick  eyes  of  the  Mohicans  caught  the  dark 
line  of  his  lower  limbs  incautiously  exposed  through  the 
thin  foliage,  a  few  inches  from  the  trunk  of  the  tree.  Their 
rifles  made  a  common  report,  when,  sinking  on  his  wounded 
limb,  part  of  the  body  of  the  savage  came  into  view.  Swift 
as  thought,  Hawk-eye  seized  the  advantage,  and  discharged 
his  fatal  weapon  into  the  top  of  the  oak.  The  leaves  were 
unusually  agitated;  the  dangerous  rifle  fell  from  its  com- 
manding elevation,  and  after  a  few  moments  of  vain  strug- 
gling, the  form  of  the  savage  was  seen  swinging  in  the  wind, 
while  he  still  grasped  a  ragged  and  naked  branch  of  the 
tree,  with  hands  clenched  in  desperation. 

"  Give  him,  in  pity  give  him,  the  contents  of  another 
rifle !  "  cried  Duncan,  turning  away  his  eyes  in  horror  from 
the  spectacle  of  a  fellow-creature  in  such  awful  jeopardy. 

"  Not  a  karnel !  "  exclaimed  the  obdurate  Hawk-eye ;  "  his 
death  is  certain,  and  we  have  no  powder  to  spare,  for  Indian 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  93 

fights  sometimes  last  for  days;  'tis  their  scalps  or  ours! — 
and  God,  who  made  us,  has  put  into  our  natures  the  crav- 
ing to  keep  the  skin  on  the  head !  " 

Against  this  stern  and  unyielding  morality,  supported  as 
it  was  by  such  visible  policy,  there  was  no  appeal.  From 
that  moment  the  yells  in  the  forest  once  more  ceased,  the 
fire  was  suffered  to  decline,  and  all  eyes,  those  of  friends  as 
well  as  enemies,  became  fixed  on  the  hopeless  condition  of 
the  wretch  who  was  dangling  between  heaven  and  earth. 
The  body  yielded  to  the  currents  of  air,  and  though  no  mur- 
mur or  groan  escaped  the  victim,  there  were  instants  when 
he  grimly  faced  his  foes,  and  the  anguish  of  cold  despair 
might  be  traced,  through  the  intervening  distance,  in  pos- 
session of  his  swarthy  lineaments.  Three  several  times  the 
scout  raised  his  piece  in  mercy,  and  as  often  prudence  get- 
ting the  better  of  his  intention,  it  was  again  silently  lowered. 
At  length  one  hand  of  the  Huron  lost  its  hold,  and  dropped 
exhausted  to  his  side.  A  desperate  and  fruitless  struggle  to 
recover  the  branch  succeeded,  and  then  the  savage  was  seen 
for  a  fleeting  instant,  grasping  wildly  at  the  empty  air.  The 
lightning  is  not  quicker  than  was  the  flame  from  the  rifle 
of  Hawk-eye;  the  limbs  of  the  victim  trembled  and  con- 
tracted, the  head  fell  to  the  bosom,  and  the  body  parted  the 
foaming  waters  like  lead,  when  the  element  closed  above  it, 
in  its  ceaseless  velocity,  and  every  vestige  of  the  unhappy 
Huron  was  lost  for  ever. 

No  shout  of  triumph  succeeded  this  important  advantage, 
but  even  the  Mohicans  gazed  at  each  other  in  silent  horror. 
A  single  yell  burst  from  the  woods,  and  all  was  again  still. 
Hawk-eye,  who  alone  appeared  to  reason  on  the  occasion, 
shook  his  head  at  his  own  momentary  weakness,  even  utter- 
ing his  self-disapprobation  aloud. 

"  'Twas  the  last  charge  in  my  horn,  and  the  last  bullet  in 
my  pouch,  and  'twas  the  act  of  a  boy !  "  he  said ;  "  what 
mattered  it  whether  he  struck  the  rock  living  or  dead!  feel- 
ing would  soon  be  over.     Uncas,  lad,  go  down  to  the  canoe, 


94  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

and  bring  up  the  big  horn  ;  it  is  all  the  powder  we  have  leL; 
and  we  shall  need  it  to  the  last  grain,  or  I  am  ignorant  of 
the  Mingo  nature." 

The  young  Mohican  complied,  leaving  the  scout  turning 
over  the  useless  contents  of  his  pouch,  and  shaking  the  emp- 
ty horn  with  renewed  discontent.  From  this  unsatisfactory 
examination,  however,  he  was  soon  called  by  a  loud  and 
piercing  exclamation  from  Uncas,  that  sounded,  even  to  the 
unpractised  ears  of  Duncan,  as  the  signal  of  some  new  and 
unexpected  calamity.  Every  thought  filled  with  apprehen- 
sion for  the  precious  treasure  he  had  concealed  in  the  cav- 
ern, the  young  man  started  to  his  feet,  totally  regardless  of 
the  hazard  he  incurred  by  such  an  exposure.  As  if  actuated 
by  a  common  impulse,  his  movement  was  imitated  by  his 
companions,  and,  together,  they  rushed  down  the  pass  to  the 
friendly  chasm,  with  a  rapidity  that  rendered  the  scattering 
fire  of  their  enemies  perfectly  harmless.  The  unwonted  cry 
had  brought  the  sisters,  together  with  the  wounded  David, 
from  their  place  of  refuge;  and  the  whole  party,  at  a  single 
glance,  was  made  acquainted  with  the  nature  of  the  disas- 
ter that  had  disturbed  even  the  practised  stoicism  of  their 
youthful  Indian  protector. 

At  a  short  distance  from  the  rock,  their  little  bark  was  to 
be  seen  floating  across  the  eddy,  toward  the  swift  current 
of  the  river,  in  a  manner  which  proved  that  its  course  was 
directed  by  some  hidden  agent.  The  instant  this  unwel- 
come sight  caught  the  eye  of  the  scout,  his  rifle  was  levelled, 
as  by  instinct,  but  the  barrel  gave  no  answer  to  the  bright 
sparks  of  the  flint. 

"  'Tis  too  late,  'tis  too  late !  "  Hawk-eye  exclaimed,  drop- 
ping the  useless  piece  in  bitter  disappointment;  "the  mis- 
creant has  struck  the  rapid;  and  had  we  powder,  it  could 
hardly  send  the  lead  swifter  than  he  now  goes!  " 

The  adventurous  Huron  raised  his  head  above  the  shelter 
of  the  canoe,  and  while  it  glided  swiftly  down  the  stream, 
he  waved  his  hand,  and  gave  forth  the  shout,  which  was  the 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  95 

known  signal  of  success.  His  cry  was  answered  by  a  yell 
and  a  laugh  from  the  woods,  as  tauntingly  exulting  as  if 
fifty  demons  were  uttering  their  blasphemies  at  the  fall  of 
some  Christian  soul. 

"  Well  may  you  laugh,  ye  children  of  the  devil !  "  said 
the  scout,  seating  himself  on  a  projection  of  the  rock,  and 
suffering  his  gun  to  fall  neglected  at  his  feet,  "for  the  three 
quickest  and  truest  rifles  in  these  woods  are  no  better  than 
so  many  stalks  of  mullen,  or  the  last  year's  horns  of  a  buck!  " 

"What  is  to  be  done?"  demanded  Duncan,  losing  the 
first  feeling  of  disappointment  in  a  more  manly  desire  for 
exertion;  "what  will  become  of  us?  " 

Hawk-eye  made  no  other  reply  than  by  passing  his  finger 
around  the  crown  of  his  head,  in  a  manner  so  significant, 
that  none  who  witnessed  the  action  could  mistake  its  mean- 
ing. 

"  Surely,  surely,  our  case  is  not  so  desperate !  "  exclaimed 
the  youth ;  "  the  Hurons  are  not  here ;  we  may  make  good 
the  caverns;  we  may  oppose  their  landing." 

"With  what?  "  coolly  demanded  the  scout.  "The  arrows 
of  Uncas,  or  such  tears  as  women  shed !  No,  no ;  you  are 
young,  and  rich,  and  have  friends,  and  at  such  an  age  I 
know  it  is  hard  to  die!  But,"  glancing  his  eyes  at  the  Mo- 
hicans, "  let  us  remember  we  are  men  without  a  cross,  and 
let  us  teach  these  natives  of  the  forest  that  white  blood  can 
run  as  freely  as  red,  when  the  appointed  hour  is  come." 

Duncan  turned  quickly  in  the  direction  indicated  by  the 
other's  eyes,  and  read  a  confirmation  of  his  worst  apprehen- 
sions in  the  conduct  of  the  Indians.  Chingachgook,  placing 
himself  in  a  dignified  posture  on  another  fragment  of  the 
rock,  had  already  laid  aside  his  knife  and  tomahawk,  and 
was  in  the  act  of  taking  the  eagle's  plume  from  his  head, 
and  smoothing  the  solitary  tuft  of  hair  in  readiness  to  per- 
form its  last  and  revolting  office.  His  countenance  was 
composed,  though  thoughtful,  while  his  dark  gleaming  eyes 
were  gradually  losing  the  fierceness  of  the  combat  in  an 


96  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

expression  better  suited  to  the  change  he  expected  momen- 
tarily to  undergo. 

"Our  case  is  not,  cannot  be  so  hopeless!  "  said  Duncan; 
"even  at  this  very  moment  succor  may  be  at  hand.  I  see 
no  enemies!  they  have  sickened  of  a  struggle  in  which 
they  risk  so  much  with  so  little  prospect  of  gain !  " 

"  It  may  be  a  minute,  or  it  may  be  an  hour,  afore  the  wily 
sarpents  steal  upon  us,  and  it  is  quite  in  natur'  for  them  to 
be  lying  within  hearing  at  this  very  moment,"  said  Hawk- 
eye;  "but  come  they  will,  and  in  such  a  fashion  as  will 
leave  us  nothing  to  hope!  Chingachgook  " — he  spoke  in 
Delaware — "  my  brother,  we  have  fought  our  last  battle  to- 
gether, and  the  Maquas  will  triumph  in  the  death  of  the 
sage  man  of  the  Mohicans,  and  of  the  pale-face,  whose  eyes 
can  make  night  as  day,  and  level  the  clouds  to  the  mists  of 
the  spring !  " 

"  Let  the  Mingo  women  go  weep  over  their  slain !  "  re- 
turned the  Indian,  with  characteristic  pride  and  unmoved 
firmness ;  "  the  Great  Snake  of  the  Mohicans  has  coiled  him- 
self in  their  wigwams,  and  has  poisoned  their  triumph  with 
the  wailings  of  children,  whose  fathers  have  not  returned! 
Eleven  warriors  lie  hid  from  the  graves  of  their  tribes  since 
the  snows  have  melted,  and  none  will  tell  where  to  find 
them  when  the  tongue  of  Chingachgook  shall  be  silent! 
Let  them  draw  the  sharpest  knife,  and  whirl  the  swiftest 
tomahawk,  for  their  bitterest  enemy  is  in  their  hands.  Un- 
cas,  topmost  branch  of  a  noble  trunk,  call  on  the  cowards 
to  hasten  or  their  hearts  will  soften,  and  they  will  change 
to  women !  " 

"  They  look  among  the  fishes  for  their  dead ! "  returned 
the  low,  soft  voice  of  the  youthful  chieftain ;  "  the  Hurons 
float  with  the  slimy  eels!  They  drop  from  the  oaks  like 
fruit  that  is  ready  to  be  eaten !  and  the  Delawares  laugh !  " 

"  Aye,  aye,"  muttered  the  scout,  who  had  listened  to  this 
peculiar  burst  of  the  natives  with  deep  attention;  "they 
have  warmed  their  Indian  feelings,  and  they'll  soon  pro- 


THE    LAST    OF   THE    MOHICANS.  97 

voke  the  Maquas  to  give  them  a  speedy  end.  As  for  me, 
who  am  of  the  whole  blood  of  the  whites,  it  is  befitting  that 
I  should  die  as  becomes  my  color,  with  no  words  of  scoffing 
in  my  mouth,  and  without  bitterness  at  the  heart!  " 

"Why  die  at  all!  "  said  Cora,  advancing  from  the  place 
where  natural  horror  had,  until  this  moment,  held  her 
riveted  to  the  rock;  "the  path  is  open  on  every  side;  fly, 
then,  to  the  woods,  and  call  on  God  for  succor !  Go,  brave 
men,  we  owe  you  too  much  already ;  let  us  no  longer  in- 
volve you  in  our  hapless  fortunes !  " 

"You  but  little  know  the  craft  of  the  Iroquois,  lady,  if 
you  judge  they  have  left  the  path  open  to  the  woods!  "  re- 
turned Hawk-eye,  who,  however,  immediately  added  in  his 
simplicity:  "the  down-stream  current,  it  is  certain,  might 
soon  sweep  us  beyond  the  reach  of  their  rifles  or  the  sounds 
of  their  voices." 

"Then  try  the  river.  Why  linger,  to  add  to  the  number 
of  the  victims  of  our  merciless  enemies?  " 

"  Why  r  "  repeated  the  scout,  looking  about  him  proudly. 
"  Because  it  is  better  for  a  man  to  die  at  peace  with  himself 
than  to  live  haunted  by  an  evil  conscience!  What  answer 
could  we  give  Munro,  when  he  asked  us  where  and  how  we 
left  his  children?  " 

"Go  to  him,  and  say,  that  you  left  them  with  a  message 
to  hasten  to  their  aid,"  returned  Cora,  advancing  nigher  to 
the  scout,  in  her  generous  ardor ;  "  that  the  Hurons  bear 
them  into  the  northern  wilds,  but  that  by  vigilance  and 
speed  they  may  yet  be  rescued;  and  if,  after  all,  it  should 
please  heaven  that  his  assistance  come  too  late,  bear  to 
him,"  she  continued,  her  voice  gradually  lowering,  until  it 
seemed  nearly  choked,  "the  love,  the  blessings,  the  final 
prayers  of  his  daughters,  and  bid  him  not  mourn  their  early 
fate,  but  to  look  forward  with  humble  confidence  to  the 
Christian's  goal  to  meet  his  children." 

The  hard,  weather-beaten  features  of  the  scout  began  to 
work,  and  when  she  had  ended,  he  dropped  his  chin  to  his 
7 


98  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

hand,  like  a  man  musing  profoundly  on  the  nature  of  the 
proposal. 

"There  is  reason  in  her  words!"  at  length  broke  from 
his  compressed  and  trembling  lips;  "aye,  and  they  bear  the 
spirit  of  Christianity;  what  might  be  right  and  proper  in  a 
red-skin,  may  be  sinful  in  a  man  who  has  not  even  a  cross 
in  blood  to  plead  for  his  ignorance.  Chingachgook!  Uncas! 
hear  you  the  talk  of  the  dark-eyed  woman !  " 

He  now  spoke  in  Delaware  to  his  companions,  and  his 
address,  though  calm  and  deliberate,  seemed  very  decided. 
The  elder  Mohican  heard  him  with  deep  gravity,  and  ap- 
peared to  ponder  on  his  words,  as  though  he  felt  the  im- 
portance of  their  import.  After  a  moment  of  hesitation,  he 
waved  his  hand  in  assent,  and  uttered  the  English  word 
"Good"  with  the  peculiar  emphasis  of  his  people.  Then, 
replacing  his  knife  and  tomahawk  in  his  girdle,  the  warrior 
moved  silently  to  the  edge  of  the  rock  which  was  most  con- 
cealed from  the  banks  of  the  river.  Here  he  paused  a  mo- 
ment, pointed  significantly  to  the  woods  below,  and  saying 
a  few  words  in  his  own  language,  as  if  indicating  his  in- 
tended route,  he  dropped  into  the  water,  and  sank  from  be- 
fore the  eyes  of  the  witnesses  of  his  movements. 

The  scout  delayed  his  departure  to  speak  to  the  generous 
girl,  whose  breathing  became  lighter  as  she  saw  the  success 
of  her  remonstrance. 

"  Wisdom  is  sometimes  given  to  the  young,  as  well  as  to 
the  old,"  he  said;  "and  what  you  have  spoken  is  wise,  not 
to  call  it  by  a  better  word.  If  you  are  led  into  the  woods, 
that  is,  such  of  you  as  may  be  spared  for  a  while,  break  the 
twigs  on  the  bushes  as  you  pass,  and  make  the  marks  of  your 
trail  as  broad  as  you  can,  when,  if  mortal  eyes  can  see  them, 
depend  on  having  a  friend  who  will  follow  to  the  ends  of 
'arth  afore  he  desarts  you." 

He  gave  Cora  an  affectionate  shake  of  the  hand,  lifted  his 
rifle,  and  after  regarding  it  a  moment  with  melancholy 
solicitude,   laid  it  carefully   aside,   and  descended   to  the 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  99 

place  where  Chingachgook  had  just  disappeared.  For  an 
instant  he  hung  suspended  by  the  rock;  and  looking  about 
him,  with  a  countenance  of  peculiar  care,  he  added,  bitterly, 
"  Had  the  powder  held  out,  this  disgrace  could  never  have 
befallen!  "  then,  loosening  his  hold,  the  water  closed  above 
his  head,  and  he  also  became  lost  to  view. 

All  eyes  were  now  turned  on  Uncas,  who  stood  leaning 
against  the  ragged  rock,  in  immovable  composure.  After 
waiting  a  short  time,  Cora  pointed  down  the  river,  and  said : 

"  Your  friends  have  not  been  seen,  and  are  now,  most 
probably,  in  safety;   is  it  not  time  for  you  to  follow?  " 

"  Uncas  will  stay,"  the  young  Mohican  calmly  answered 
in  English. 

"  To  increase  the  horror  of  our  capture,  and  to  diminish 
the  chances  of  our  release!  Go,  generous  young  man,"  Cora 
continued,  lowering  her  eyes'under  the  gaze  of  the  Mohican, 
and,  perhaps,  with  an  intuitive  consciousness  of  her  power; 
"go  to  my  father,  as  I  have  said-,  and  be  the  most  con- 
fidential of  my  messengers.  Tell  him  to  trust  you  with  the 
means  to  buy  the  freedom  of  his  daughters.  Go!  'tis  my 
wish,  'tis  my  prayer,  that  you  will  go!  " 

The  settled,  calm  look  of  the  young  chief  changed  to  an 
expression  of  gloom,  but  he  no  longer  hesitated.  With  a 
noiseless  step  he  crossed  the  rock,  and  dropped  into  the 
troubled  stream.  Hardly  a  breath  was  drawn  by  those  he 
left  behind,  until  they  caught  a  glimpse  of  his  head  emerg- 
ing for  air,  far  down  the  current,  when  he  again  sank,  and 
was  seen  no  more. 

These  sudden  and  apparently  successful  experiments  had 
all  taken  place  in  a  few  minutes  of  that  time  which  had  now 
become  so  precious.  After  the  last  look  at  Uncas,  Cora 
turned,  and,  with  a  quivering  lip,  addressed  herself  to  Hey- 
ward : — 

"  I  have  heard  of  your  boasted  skill  in  the  water,  too, 
Duncan,"  she  said ;  "  follow,  then,  the  wise  example  set  you 
by  these  simple  and  faithful  beings." 


IOO  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

"Is  such  the  faith  that  Cora  Munro  would  exact  from 
her  protector?"  said  the  young  man,  smiling  mournfully, 
but  with  bitterness. 

"This  is  not  a  time  for  idle  subtleties  and  false  opinions," 
she  answered;  "but  a  moment  when  every  duty  should  be 
equally  considered.  To  us  you  can  be  of  no  further  service 
here,  but  your  precious  life  may  be  saved  for  other  and 
nearer  friends." 

He  made  no  reply,  though  his  eyes  fell  wistfully  on  the 
beautiful  form  of  Alice,  who  was  clinging  to  his  arm  with 
the  dependency  of  an  infant. 

"  Consider,"  continued  Cora,  after  a  pause  during  which 
she  seemed  to  struggle  with  a  pang  even  more  acute  than 
any  that  her  fears  had  excited,  "  that  the  worst  to  us  can  be 
but  death ;  a  tribute  that  all  must  pay  at  the  good  time  of 
God's  appointment." 

"There  are  evils  worse  than  death,"  said  Duncan,  speak- 
ing hoarsely,  and  as  if  fretful  at  her  importunity,  "but 
which  the  presence  of  one  who  would  die  in  your  behalf  may 
avert." 

Cora  ceased  her  entreaties;  and,  veiling  her  face  in  her 
shawl,  drew  the  nearly  insensible  Alice  after  her  into  the 
deepest  recess  of  the  inner  cavern. 


CHAPTER    IX. 


"Be  gay  securely  ; 
Dispel,  my  fair,  with  smiles,  the  tim'rous  clouds 
That  hang  on  thy  clear  brow." 

Death  of  Agrippina. 

The  sudden  and  almost  magical  change,  from  the  stirring 
incidents  of  the  combat  to  the  stillness  that  now  reigned 
around  him,  acted  on  the  heated  imagination  of  Heyward 
like  some  exciting  dream.  While  all  the  images  and  events 
he  had  witnessed  remained  deeply  impressed  on  his  memory, 
he  felt  a  difficulty   in  persuading  himself  of  their  truth. 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  99 

place  where  Chingachgook  had  just  disappeared.  For  an 
instant  he  hung  suspended  by  the  rock;  and  looking  about 
him,  wj"  h  a  countenance  of  peculiar  care,  he  added,  bitterly, 
"  Had  the  powder  held  out,  this  disgrace  could  never  have 
befallen !  "  then,  loosening  his  hold,  the  water  closed  above 
his  head,  and  he  also  became  lost  to  view. 

All  eyes  were  now  turned  on  Uncas,  who  stood  leaning 
against  the  ragged  rock,  in  immovable  composure.  After 
waiting  a  short  time,  Cora  pointed  down  the  river,  and  said  : 

"  Your  friends  have  not  been  seen,  and  are  now,  most 
probably,  in  safety;   is  it  not  time  for  you  to  follow?  " 

"  Uncas  will  stay,"  the  young  Mohican  calmly  answered 
in  English. 

"  To  increase  the  horror  of  our  capture,  and  to  diminish 
the  chances  of  our  release !  Go,  generous  young  man,"  Cora 
continued,  lowering  her  eyes  under  the  gaze  of  the  Mohican, 
and,  perhaps,  with  an  intuitive  consciousness  of  her  power, 
"go  to  my  father,  as  I  have  said*  and  be  the  most  con- 
fidential of  my  messengers.  Tell  him  to  trust  you  with  the 
means  to  buy  the  freedom  of  his  daughters.  Go!  tis  my 
wish,  'tis  my  prayer,  that  you  will  go!  " 

The  settled,  calm  look  of  the  young  chief  changed  to  an 
expression  of  gloom,  but  he  no  longer  hesitated,  With  a 
noiseless  step  he  crossed  the  rock,  and  dropped  into  the 
troubled  stream.  Hardly  a  breath  was  drawn  by  those  he 
left  behind,  until  they  caught  a  glimpse  of  his  head  emerg- 
ing for  air,  far  down  the  current,  when  he  again  sank,  and 
was  seen  no  more. 

These  sudden  and  apparently  successful  experiments  had 
all  taken  place  in  a  few  minutes  of  that  time  which  had  now 
become  so  precious.  After  the  last  look  at  Uncas,  Cora 
turned,  and,  with  a  quivering  lip,  addressed  herself  to  Hey- 
ward:  — 

"  I  have  heard  of  your  boasted  skill  in  the  water,  too, 
Duncan,"  she  said ;  "  follow,  then,  the  wise  example  set  you 
by  these  simple  and  faithful  beings." 


IOO  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

"  Is  such  the  faith  that  Cora  Munro  would  exact  from 
her  protector?  "  said  the  young  man,  smiling  mournfully, 
but  with  bitterness.  v^ 

"This  is  not  a  time  for  idle  subtleties  and  false  opinions," 
she  answered;  "but  a  moment  when  every  duty  should  'twj 
equally  considered.  To  us  you  can  be  of  no  further  service 
here,  but  your  precious  life  may  be  saved  for  other  and 
nearer  friends." 

He  made  no  reply,  though  his  eyes  fell  wistfully  on  the 
beautiful  form  of  Alice,  who  was  clinging  to  his  arm  with 
the  dependency  of  an  infant. 

"  Consider,"  continued  Cora,  after  a  pause  during  which 
she  seemed  to  struggle  with  a  pang  even  more  acute  than 
any  that  her  fears  had  excited,  "  that  the  worst  to  us  can  be 
but  death,  a  tribute  that  all  must  pay  at  the  good  time  of 
God's  appointment." 

"There  are  evils  worse  than  death,"  said  Duncan,  speak- 
ing hoarsely,  and  as  if  fretful  at  her  importunity,  "but 
which  the  presence  of  one  who  would  die  in  your  behalf  may 
avert." 

Cora  ceased  her  entreaties;  and,  veiling  her  face  in  her 
shawl,  drew  the  nearly  insensible  Alice  after  her  into  the 
deepest  recess  of  the  inner  cavern. 


CHAPTER    IX. 


"  Be  gay  securely  ; 
Dispel,  my  fair,  with  smiles,  the  tim'rous  clouds 
That  hang  on  thy  clear  brow," 

Death  of  Agrippina. 

The  sudden  and  almost  magical  change,  from  the  stirring 
incidents  of  the  combat  to  the  stillness  that  now  reigned 
around  him,  acted  on  the  heated  imagination  of  Heyward 
like  some  exciting  dream.  While  all  the  images  and  events 
he  had  witnessed  remained  deeply  impressed  on  his  memory, 
he  felt  a  difficulty   in  persuading  himself  of  their  truth. 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  IOI 

Still  ignorant  of  the  fate  of  those  who  had  trusted  to  the  aid 
of  the  swift  current,  he  at  first  listened  intently  to  any 
signal,  or  sounds  of  alarm,  which  might  announce  the  good 
or  evil  fortune  of  their  hazardous  undertaking.  His  atten- 
tion was,  however,  bestowed  in  vain;  for,  with  the  disap- 
pearance of  Uncas,  every  sign  of  the  adventurers  had  been 
lost,  leaving  him  in  total  uncertainty  of  their  fate. 

In  a  moment  of  such  painful  doubt,  Duncan  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  look  about  him,  without  consulting  that  protection 
from  the  rocks  which  just  before  had  been  so  necessary  to 
his  safety.  Every  effort,  however,  to  detect  the  least  evi- 
dence of  the  approach  of  their  hidden  enemies,  was  as  fruit- 
less as  the  inquiry  after  his  late  companions.  The  wooded 
banks  of  the  rivers  seemed  again  deserted  by  everything 
possessing  animal  life.  The  uproar  which  had  so  lately 
echoed  through  the  vaults  of  the  forest  was  gone,  leaving 
the  rush  of  the  waters  to  swell  and  sink  on  the  currents  of 
the  air,  in  the  unmingled  sweetness  of  nature.  A  fish-hawk, 
which,  secure  on  the  topmost  branches  of  a  dead  pine,  had 
been  a  distant  spectator  of  the  fray,  now  stooped  from  his 
high  and  ragged  perch,  and  soared,  in  wide  sweeps,  above 
his  prey;  while  a  jay,  whose  noisy  voice  had  been  stilled  by 
the  hoarser  cries  of  the  savages,  ventured  again  to  open  his 
discordant  throat,  as  though  once  more  in  undisturbed  pos- 
session of  his  wild  domains.  Duncan  caught  from  these 
natural  accompaniments  of  the  solitary  scene  a  glimmering 
of  hope ;  and  he  began  to  rally  his  faculties  to  renewed  ex- 
ertions, with  something  like  a  reviving  confidence  of  success. 

"The  Hurons  are  not  to  be  seen,"  he  said,  addressing 
David,  who  had  by  no  means  recovered  from  the  effects  of 
the  stunning  blow  he  had  received;  "  let  us  conceal  our- 
selves in  the  cavern,  and  trust  the  rest  to  Providence." 

"  I  remember  to  have  united  with  two  comely  maidens,  in 
lifting  up  our  voices  in  praise  and  thanksgiving,"  returned 
the  bewildered  singing-master;  "since  which  time  I  have 
been  visited  by  a  heavy  judgment  for  my  sins.     I  have  been 


102  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

mocked  with  the  likeness  of  sleep,  while  sounds  of  discord 
have  rent  my  ears,  such  as  might  manifest  the  fulness  of 
time,  and  that  nature  had  forgotten  her  harmony." 

"Poor  fellow!  thine  own  period  was,  in  truth,  near  its 
accomplishment!  But  arouse,  and  come  with  me;  I  will 
lead  you  where  all  other  sounds  but  those  of  your  own 
psalmody  shall  be  excluded." 

"There  is  melody  in  the  fall  of  the  cataract,  and  the 
rushing  of  many  waters  is  sweet  to  the  senses!  "  said  David, 
pressing  his  hand  confusedly  on  his  brow.  "Is  not  the  air 
yet  filled  with  shrieks  and  cries,  as  though  the  departed 
spirits  of  the  damned " 

"Not  now,  not  now,"  interrupted  the  impatient  Heyward, 
"they  have  ceased,  and  they  who  raised  them,  I  trust  in 
God,  they  are  gone  too!  everything  but  the  water  is  still  and 
at  peace;  in,  then,  where  you  may  create  those  sounds  you 
love  so  well  to  hear." 

David  smiled  sadly,  though  not  without  a  momentary 
gleam  of  pleasure,  at  this  allusion  to  his  beloved  vocation. 
He  no  longer  hesitated  to  be  led  to  a  spot  which  promised 
such  unalloyed  gratification  to  his  wearied  senses;  and, 
leaning  on  the  arm  of  his  companion,  he  entered  the  narrow 
mouth  of  the  cave.  Duncan  seized  a  pile  of  the  sassafras, 
which  he  drew  before  the  passage,  studiously  concealing 
every  appearance  of  an  aperture.  Within  this  fragile  barrier 
he  arranged  the  blankets  abandoned  by  the  foresters,  dark- 
ening the  inner  extremity  of  the  cavern,  while  its  outer  re- 
ceived a  chastened  light  from  the  narrow  ravine,  through 
which  one  arm  of  the  river  rushed,  to  form  the  junction  with 
its  sister  branch,  a  few  rods  below. 

"  I  like  not  that  principle  of  the  natives,  which  teaches 
them  to  submit  without  a  struggle,  in  emergencies  that  ap- 
pear desperate,"  he  said,  while  busied  in  this  employment; 
"our  own  maxim,  which  says,  '  while  life  remains  there  is 
hope,'  is  more  consoling,  and  better  suited  to  a  soldier's 
temperament.     To  you,  Cora,  I  will  urge  no  words  of  idle 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  IO3 

encouragement;  your  own  fortitude  and  undisturbed  reason 
will  teach  you  all  that  may  become  your  sex;  but  cannot  we 
dry  the  tears  of  that  trembling  weeper  on  your  bosom  ?  " 

"I  am  calmer,  Duncan,"  said  Alice,  raising  herself  from 
the  arms  of  her  sister,  and  forcing  an  appearance  of  com- 
posure through  her  tears;  "much  calmer,  now.  Surely,  in 
this  hidden  spot  we  are  safe,  we  are  secret,  free  from  injury; 
we  will  hope  everything  from  those  generous  men  who  have 
risked  so  much  already  in  our  behalf." 

"Now  does  our  gentle  Alice  speak  like  a  daughter  of 
Munro!"  said  Hey  ward,  pausing  to  press  her  hand  as  he 
passed  toward  the  outer  entrance  of  the  cavern.  "With  two 
such  examples  of  courage  before  him,  a  man  would  be 
ashamed  to  prove  other  than  a  hero."  He  then  seated  him- 
self in  the  centre  of  the  cavern,  grasping  his  remaining 
pistol  with  a  hand  convulsively  clenched,  while  his  con- 
tracted and  frowning  eye  announced  the  s-ullen  desperation 
of  his  purpose.  "The  Hurons,  if  they  come,  may  not  gain 
our  position  so  easily  as  they  think,"  he  lowly  muttered; 
and  dropping  his  head  back  against  the  rock,  he  seemed  to 
await  the  result  in  patience,  though  his  gaze  was  unceasingly 
bent  on  the  open  avenue  to  their  place  of  retreat. 

With  the  last  sound  of  his  voice,  a  deep,  a  long,  and  al- 
most breathless  silence  succeeded.  The  fresh  air  of  the 
morning  had  penetrated  the  recess,  and  its  influence  was 
gradually  felt  on  the  spirits  of  its  inmates.  As  minute 
after  minute  passed  by,  leaving  them  in  undisturbed  security, 
the  insinuating  feeling  of  hope  was  gradually  gaining  pos- 
session of  every  bosom,  though  each  one  felt  reluctant  to 
give  utterance  to  expectations  that  the  next  moment  might 
so  fearfully  destroy. 

David  alone  formed  an  exception  to  these  varying  emo- 
tions. A  gleam  of  light  from  the  opening  crossed  his  wan 
countenance,  and  fell  upon  the  pages  of  the  little  volume, 
whose  leaves  he  was  again  occupied  in  turning,  as  if  search- 
ing for  some  song  more  fitted  to  their  condition  than  any 


104  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

that  had  yet  met  his  eye.  He  was,  most  probably,  acting 
all  this  time  under  a  confused  recollection  of  the  promised 
consolation  of  Duncan.  At  length,  it  would  seem,  his  pa- 
tient industry  found  its  reward;  for,  without  explanation  or 
apology,  he  pronounced  aloud  the  words  "  Isle  of  Wight," 
drew  a  long,  sweet  sound  from  his  pitch-pipe,  and  then  ran 
through  the  preliminary  modulations  of  the  air,  whose  name 
he  had  just  mentioned,  with  the  sweeter  tones  of  his  own 
musical  voice. 

"  May  not  this  prove  dangerous  ?  "  asked  Cora,  glancing 
her  dark  eye  at  Major  Heyward. 

"Poor  fellow!  his  voice  is  too  feeble  to  be  heard  amid 
the  din  of  the  falls,"  was  the  answer;  "besides,  the  cavern 
will  prove  his  friend.  Let  him  indulge  his  passion,  since 
it  may  be  done  without  hazard." 

"  Isle  of  Wight!  "  repeated  David,  looking  about  him  with 
that  dignity  with  which  he  had  long  been  wont  to  silence 
the  whispering  echoes  of  his  school ;  "  'tis  a  brave  tune,  and 
set  to  solemn  words;  let  it  be  sung  with  meet  respect!  " 

After  allowing  a  moment  of  stillness  to  enforce  his  dis- 
cipline, the  voice  of  the  singer  was  heard,  in  low,  murmur- 
ing syllables,  gradually  stealing  on  the  ear,  until  it  filled 
the  narrow  vault  with  sounds  rendered  trebly  thrilling  by 
the  feeble  and  tremulous  utterance  produced  by  his  debility. 
The  melody,  which  no  weakness  could  destroy,  gradually 
wrought  its  sweet  influence  on  the  senses  of  those  who 
heard  it.  It  even  prevailed  over  the  miserable  travesty  of 
the  song  of  David  which  the  singer  had  selected  from  a 
volume  of  similar  effusions,  and  caused  the  sense  to  be  for- 
gotten in  the  insinuating  harmony  of  the  sounds.  Alice 
unconsciously  dried  her  tears,  and  bent  her  melting  eyes  on 
the  pallid  features  of  Gamut,  with  an  expression  of  chast- 
ened delight  that  she  neither  affected  nor  wished  to  conceal. 
Cora  bestowed  an  approving  smile  on  the  pious  efforts  of 
the  namesake  of  the  Jewish  prince,  and  Heyward  soon 
turned  his  steady,  stern  look  from  the  outlet  of  the  cavern, 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  IO5 

to  fasten  it,  with  a  milder  character,  on  the  face  of  David, 
or  to  meet  the  wandering  beams  which  at  moments  strayed 
from  the  humid  eyes  of  Alice.  The  open  sympathy  of  the 
listeners  stirred  the  spirit  of  the  votary  of  music,  whose 
voice  regained  its  richness  and  volume,  without  losing  that 
touching  softness  which  proved  its  secret  charm.  Exerting 
his  renovated  powers  to  their  utmost,  he  was  yet  filling  the 
arches  of  the  cave  with  long  and  full  tones,  when  a  yell 
burst  into  the  air  without,  that  instantly  stilled  his  pious 
strains,  choking  his  voice  suddenly,  as  though  his  heart  had 
literally  bounded  into  the  passage  of  his  throat. 

"We  are  lost!"  exclaimed  Alice,  throwing  herself  into 
the  arms  of  Cora. 

"  Not  yet,  not  yet,"  returned  the  agitated  but  undaunted 
Heyward ;  "  the  sound  came  from  the  centre  of  the  island, 
and  it  has  been  produced  by  the  sight  of  their  dead  com- 
panions. We  are  not  yet  discovered,  and  there  is  still 
hope." 

Faint  and  almost  despairing  as  was  the  prospect  of  escape, 
the  words  of  Duncan  were  not  thrown  away,  for  it  awakened 
the  powers  of  the  sisters  in  such  a  manner,  that  they  awaited 
the  result  in  silence.  A  second  yell  soon  followed  the  first, 
when  a  rush  of  voices  was  heard  pouring  down  the  island, 
from  its  upper  to  its  lower  extremity,  until  they  reached  the 
naked  rock  above  the  caverns,  where,  after  a  shout  of  savage 
triumph,  the  air  continued  full  of  horrible  cries  and  screams, 
such  as  man  alone  can  utter,  and  he  only  when  in  a  state  of 
the  fiercest  barbarity. 

The  sounds  quickly  spread  around  them  in  every  direc- 
tion. Some  called  to  their  fellows  from  the  water's  edge, 
and  were  answered  from  the  heights  above.  Cries  were 
heard  in  the  startling  vicinity  of  the  chasm  between  the  two 
caves,  which  mingled  with  hoarser  yells  that  arose  out  of 
the  abyss  of  the  deep  ravine.  In  short,  so  rapidly  had  the 
savage  sounds  diffused  themselves  over  the  barren  rock,  that 
it  was  not  difficult  for  the  anxious  listeners  to  imagine  they 


106  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

could  be  heard  beneath,  as  in  truth  they  were  above,  and  on 
every  side  of  them. 

In  the  midst  of  this  tumult,  a  triumphant  yell  was  raised 
within  a  few  yards  of  the  hidden  entrance  to  the  cave. 
Heyward  abandoned  every  hope,  with  the  belief  it  was  the 
signal  that  they  were  discovered.  Again  the  impression 
passed  away,  as  he  heard  the  voices  collect  near  the  spot 
where  the  white  man  had  so  reluctantly  abandoned  his  rifle. 
Amid  the  jargon  of  the  Indian  dialects  that  he  now  plainly 
heard,  it  was  easy  to  distinguish  not  only  words,  but  sen- 
tences, in  the  patois  of  the  Canadas.  A  burst  of  voices  had 
shouted  simultaneously,  "La  longue  Carabine!"  causing 
the  opposite  woods  to  re-echo  with  a  name  which,  Heyward 
well  remembered,  had  been  given  by  his  enemies  to  a  cele- 
brated hunter  and  scout  of  the  English  camp,  and  who,  he 
now  learnt  for  the  first  time,  had  been  his  late  companion. 

"La  longue  Carabine!  la  longue  Carabine!"  passed 
from  mouth  to  mouth,  until  the  whole  band  appeared  to  be 
collected  around  a  trophy  which  would  seem  to  announce 
the  death  of  its  formidable  owner.  After  a  vociferous  con- 
sultation, which  was,  at  times,  deafened  by  bursts  of  savage 
joy,  they  again  separated,  filling  the  air  with  the  name  of  a 
foe,  whose  body,  Heyward  could  collect  from  their  expres- 
sions, they  hoped  to  find  concealed  in  some  crevice  of  the 
island. 

"  Now,"  he  whispered  to  the  trembling  sisters,  "  now  is 
the  moment  of  uncertainty!  if  our  place  of  retreat  escape 
this  scrutiny,  we  are  still  safe!  In  every  event,  we  are  as- 
sured, by  what  has  fallen  from  our  enemies,  that  our  friends 
have  escaped,  and  in  two  short  hours  we  may  look  for  suc- 
cor from  Webb." 

There  were  now  a  few  minutes  of  fearful  stillness,  dur- 
ing which  Heyward  well  knew  that  the  savages  conducted 
their  search  with  greater  vigilance  and  method.  More  than 
once  he  could  distinguish  their  footsteps,  as  they  brushed 
the  sassafras,  causing  the  faded  leaves  to  rustle,  and  the 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  IO7 

branches  to  snap.  At  length,  the  pile  yielded  a  little,  a 
corner  of  a  blanket  fell,  and  a  faint  ray  of  light  gleamed 
into  the  inner  part  of  the  cave.  Cora  folded  Alice  to  her 
bosom  in  agony,  and  Duncan  sprang  to  his  feet.  A  shout 
was  at  that  moment  heard,  as  if  issuing  from  the  centre  of 
the  rock,  announcing  that  the  neighboring  cavern  had  at 
length  been  entered.  In  a  minute,  the  number  and  loud- 
ness of  the  voices  indicated  that  the  whole  party  was  col- 
lected in  and  around  that  secret  place. 

As  the  inner  passages  to  the  two  caves  were  so  close  to 
each  other,  Duncan,  believing  that  escape  was  no  longer 
possible,  passed  David  and  the  sisters,  to  place  himself  be- 
tween the  latter  and  the  first  onset  of  the  terrible  meeting. 
Grown  desperate  by  his  situation,  he  drew  nigh  the  slight 
barrier  which  separated  him  only  by  a  few  feet  from  his  re- 
lentless pursuers,  and  placing  his  face  to  the  casual  open- 
ing, he  even  looked  out,  with  a  sort  of  desperate  indifference, 
on  their  movements. 

Within  reach  of  his  arm  was  the  brawny  shoulder  of  a 
gigantic  Indian,  whose  deep  and  authoritative  voice  ap- 
peared to  give  directions  to  the  proceedings  of  his  fellows. 
Beyond  him  again,  Duncan  could  look  into  the  vault  op- 
posite, which  was  filled  with  savages,  upturning  and  rifling 
the  humble  furniture  of  the  scout.  The  wound  of  David 
had  dyed  the  leaves  of  sassafras  with  a  color  that  the  natives 
well  knew  was  anticipating  the  season.  Over  this  sign  of 
their  success,  they  set  up  a  howl,  like  an  opening  from  so 
many  hounds  who  had  recovered  a  lost  trail.  After  this 
yell  of  victory,  they  tore  up  the  fragrant  bed  of  the  cavern, 
and  bore  the  branches  into  the  chasm,  scattering  the  boughs, 
as  if  they  suspected  them  of  concealing  the  person  of  the 
man  they  had  so  long  hated  and  feared.  One  fierce  and 
wild-looking  warrior  approached  the  chief,  bearing  a  load  of 
the  brush,  and  pointing,  exultingly,  to  the  deep  red  stains 
with  which  it  was  sprinkled,  uttered  his  joy  in  Indian  yells, 
whose  meaning  Heyward  was  only  enabled  to  comprehend 


108  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

by  the  frequent  repetition  of  the  name  of  "  La  longue  Cara- 
bine." When  his  triumph  had  ceased,  he  cast  the  brush  on 
the  slight  heap  that  Duncan  had  made  before  the  entrance 
of  the  second  cavern,  and  closed  the  view.  His  example 
was  followed  by  others,  who,  as  they  drew  the  branches  from 
the  cave  of  the  scout,  threw  them  into  one  pile,  adding,  un- 
consciously, to  the  security  of  those  they  sought.  The  very 
slightness  of  the  defence  was  its  chief  merit,  for  no  one 
thought  of  disturbing  a  mass  of  brush,  which  all  of  them 
believed,  in  that  moment  of  hurry  and  confusion,  had  been 
accidentally  raised  by  the  hands  of  their  own  party. 

As  the  blankets  yielded  before  the  outward  pressure,  and 
the  branches  settled  in  the  fissure  of  the  rock  by  their  own 
weight,  forming  a  compact  body,  Duncan  once  more  breathed 
freely.  With  a  light  step,  and  lighter  heart,  he  returned  to 
the  centre  of  the  cave,  and  took  the  place  he  had  left,  where 
he  could  command  a  view  of  the  opening  next  the  river. 
While  he  was  in  the  act  of  making  this  movement,  the  In- 
dians, as  if  changing  their  purpose  by  a  common  impulse, 
broke  away  from  the  chasm  in  a  body,  and  were  heard  rush- 
ing up  the  island  again,  toward  the  point  whence  they  had 
originally  descended.  Here  another  wailing  cry  betrayed 
that  they  were  again  collected  around  the  bodies  of  their 
dead  comrades. 

Duncan  now  ventured  to  look  at  his  companions;  for, 
during  the  most  critical  moments  of  their  danger,  he  had 
been  apprehensive  that  the  anxiety  of  his  countenance  might 
communicate  some  additional  alarm  to  those  who  were  so 
little  able  to  sustain  it. 

"They  are  gone,  Cora!  "  he  whispered;  "Alice,  they  are 
returned  whence  they  came,  and  we  are  saved !  To  heaven, 
that  has  alone  delivered  us  from  the  grasp  of  so  merciless 
an  enemy,  be  all  the  praise ! " 

"Then  to  heaven  will  I  return  my  thanks!"  exclaimed 
the  younger  sister,  rising  from  the  encircling  arms  of  Cora, 
and  casting  herself  with  enthusiastic  gratitude  on  the  naked 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  IO9 

rock ;  "  to  that  heaven  who  has  spared  the  tears  of  a  gray- 
headed  father;  has  saved  the  lives  of  those  I  so  much 
love " 

Both  Heyward,  and  the  more  tempered  Cora,  witnessed 
the  act  of  involuntary  emotion  with  powerful  sympathy,  the 
former  secretly  believing  that  piety  had  never  worn  a  form 
so  lovely  as  it  had  now  assumed  in  the  youthful  person  of 
Alice.  Her  eyes  were  radiant  with  the  glow  of  grateful 
feelings;  the  flush  of  her  beauty  was  again  seated  on  her 
cheeks,  and  her  whole  soul  seemed  ready  and  anxious  to 
pour  out  tits  thanksgivings,  through  the  medium  of  her  elo- 
quent features.  But  when  her  lips  moved,  the  words  they 
should  have  uttered  appeared  frozen  by  some  new  and  sud- 
den chill.  Her  bloom  gave  place  to  the  paleness  of  death ; 
her  soft  and  melting  eyes  grew  hard,  and  seemed  contract- 
ing with  horror;  while  those  hands,  which  she  had  raised, 
clasped  in  each  other,  toward  heaven,  dropped  in  horizontal 
lines  before  her,  the  fingers  pointed  forward  in  convulsed 
motion.  Heyward  turned,  the  instant  she  gave  a  direction 
to  his  suspicions,  and,  peering  just  above  the  ledge  which 
formed  the  threshold  of  the  open  outlet  of  the  cavern,  he 
beheld  the  malignant,  fierce,  and  savage  features  of  Le 
Renard  Subtil. 

In  that  moment  of  surprise,  the  self-possession  of  Hey- 
ward did  not  desert  him.  He  observed  by  the  vacant  ex- 
pression of  the  Indian's  countenance,  that  his  eye,  accus- 
tomed to  the  open  air,  had  not  yet  been  able  to  penetrate 
the  dusky  light  which  pervaded  the  depth  of  the  cavern. 
He  had  even  thought  of  retreating  beyond  a  curvature  in 
the  natural  wall,  which  might  still  conceal  him  and  his  com- 
panions, when,  by  the  sudden  gleam  of  intelligence  that 
shot  across  the  features  of  the  savage,  he  saw  it  was  too  late, 
and  that  they  were  betrayed. 

The  look  of  exultation  and  brutal  triumph  which  an- 
nounced this  terrible  truth  was  irresistibly  irritating.  For- 
getful of  everything  but  the  impulses  of  his  hot  blood,  Dun- 


I  IO  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

can  levelled  his  pistol  and  fired.  The  report  of  the  weapon 
made  the  cavern  bellow  like  an  eruption  from  a  volcano; 
and  when  the  smoke  it  vomited  had  been  driven  away  before 
the  current  of  air  which  issued  from  the  ravine,  the  place  so 
lately  occupied  by  the  features  of  his  treacherous  guide  was 
vacant.  Rushing  to  the  outlet,  Heyward  caught  a  glimpse 
of  his  dark  figure,  stealing  around  a  low  and  narrow  ledge, 
which  soon  hid  him  entirely  from  sight. 

Among  the  savages,  a  frightful  stillness  succeeded  the 
explosion,  which  had  just  been  heard  bursting  from  the 
bowels  of  the  rock.  But  when  Le  Renard  raised  his  voice 
in  a  long  and  intelligible  whoop,  it  was  answered  by  a 
spontaneous  yell  from  the  mouth  of  every  Indian  within 
hearing  of  the  sound.  The  clamorous  noises  again  rushed 
down  the  island;  and  before  Duncan  had  time  to  recover 
from  the  shock,  his  feeble  barrier  of  brush  was  scattered  to 
the  winds,  the  cavern  was  entered  at  both  its  extremities, 
and  he  and  his  companions  were  dragged  from  their  shelter 
and  borne  into  the  day,  where  they  stood  surrounded  by  the 
whole  band  of  the  triumphant  Hurons. 


CHAPTER   X. 


"  I  fear  we  shall  outsleep  the  coming  morn, 
As  much  as  we  this  night  have  overwatched  ! " 

Midsummer  Night's  Dream. 

The  instant  the  shock  of  this  sudden  misfortune  had  abated, 
Duncan  began  to  make  his  observations  on  the  appear- 
ance and  proceedings  of  their  captors.  Contrary  to  the 
usages  of  the  natives  in  the  wantonness  of  their  success, 
they  had  respected,  net  only  the  persons  of  the  trembling 
sisters,  but  his  own.  The  rich  ornaments  of  his  military 
attire  had  indeed  been  repeatedly  handled  by  different  in 
dividuals  of  the  tribe  with  eyes  expressing  a  savage  longing 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  I  1 I 

to  possess  the  baubles;  but  before  the  customary  violence 
could  be  resorted  to,  a  mandate  in  the  authoritative  voice 
of  che  large  warrior  already  mentioned,  stayed  the  uplifted 
hand,  and  convinced  Heyward  that  they  were  to  be  reserved 
for  some  object  of  particular  moment. 

While,  however,  these  manifestations  of  weakness  were 
exhibited  by  the  young  and  vain  of  the  party,  the  more  ex- 
perienced warriors  continued  their  search  throughout  both 
caverns,  with  an  activity  that  denoted  they  were  far  from 
being  satisfied  with  those  fruits  of  their  conquest  which  had 
already  been  brought  to  light.  Unable  to  discover  any  new 
victim,  these  diligent  workers  of  vengeance  soon  approached 
their  male  prisoners,  pronouncing  the  name  of  "  La  longue 
Carabine,"  with  a  fierceness  that  could  not  easily  be  mis- 
taken. Duncan  affected  not  to  comprehend  the  meaning  of 
their  repeated  and  violent  interrogatories,  while  his  com- 
panion was  spared  the  effort  of  a  similar  deception  by  his 
ignorance  of  French.  Wearied,  at  length,  by  their  impor- 
tunities, and  apprehensive  of  irritating  his  captors  by  too 
stubborn  a  silence,  the  former  looked  about  him  in  quest  of 
Magua,  who  might  interpret  his  answers  to  questions  which 
were  at  each  moment  becoming  more  earnest  and  threatening. 

The  conduct  of  this  savage  had  formed  a  solitary  excep- 
tion to  that  of  all  his  fellows.  While  the  others  were  busily 
occupied  in  seeking  to  gratify  their  childish  passion  for 
finery,  by  plundering  even  the  miserable  effects  of  the  scout, 
or  had  been  searching,  with  such  bloodthirsty  vengeance 
in  their  looks,  for  their  absent  owner,  Le  Renard  had  stood 
at  a  little  distance  from  the  prisoners,  with  a  demeanor  so 
quiet  and  satisfied,  as  to  betray  that  he  had  already  effected 
the  grand  purpose  of  his  treachery.  When  the  eyes  of  He5r- 
ward  first  met  those  of  his  recent  guide,  he  turned  them 
away  in  horror  at  the  sinister  though  calm  look  he  encoun- 
tered. Conquering  his  disgust,  however,  he  was  able,  with 
an  averted  face,  to  address  his  successful  enemy — 

"  Le  Renard  Subtil  is  too  much  of  a  warrior,"  said  the 


112  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

reluctant  Heyward,  "to  refuse  telling  an  unarmed  man  what 
his  conquerors  say." 

"  They  ask  for  the  hunter  who  knows  the  paths  through 
the  woods,"  returned  Magua,  in  his  broken  English,  laying 
his  hand,  at  the  same  time,  with  a  ferocious  smile,  on  the 
bundle  of  leaves  with  which  a  wound  on  his  own  shoulder 
was  bandaged.  "  La  longue  Carabine !  his  rifle  is  good,  and 
his  eye  never  shut;  but,  like  the  short  gun  of  the  white 
chief,  it  is  nothing  against  the  life  of  Le  Subtil !  " 

"  Le  Renard  is  too  brave  to  remember  the  hurts  received 
in  war,  or  the  hands  that  gave  them !  " 

"  Was  it  war,  when  the  tired  Indian  rested  at  the  sugar- 
tree  to  taste  his  corn!  who  filled  the  bushes  with  creeping 
enemies!  who  drew  the  knife!  whose  tongue  was  peace, 
while  his  heart  was  colored  with  blood!  Did  Magua  say 
that  the  hatchet  was  out  of  the  ground,  and  that  his  hand 
had  dug  it  up?  " 

As  Duncan  dared  not  retort  upon  his  accuser  by  remind- 
ing him  of  his  own  premeditated  treachery,  and  disdained 
to  deprecate  his  resentment  by  any  words  of  apology,  he  re- 
mained silent.  Magua  seemed  also  content  to  rest  the  con- 
troversy as  well  as  all  further  communication  there,  for  he 
resumed  the  leaning  attitude  against  the  rock,  from  which, 
in  momentary  energy,  he  had  arisen.  But  the  cry  of  "  La 
longue  Carabine "  was  renewed  the  instant  the  impatient 
savages  perceived  that  the  short  dialogue  was  ended. 

"You  hear,"  said  Magua,  with  stubborn  indifference; 
"  the  red  Hurons  call  for  the  life  of  i  The  long  Rifle,'  or 
they  will  have  the  blood  of  them  that  keep  him  hid !  " 

"He  is  gone — escaped;  he  is  far  beyond  their  reach." 

Renard  smiled  with  cold  contempt,  as  he  answered — 

"When  the  white  man  dies,  he  thinks  he  is  at  peace;  but 
the  red  men  know  how  to  torture  even  the  ghosts  of  their 
enemies.  Where  is  his  body?  Let  the  Hurons  see  his 
scalp!" 

"  He  is  not  dead,  but  escaped." 


THE   LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  1 1 3 

Magua  shook  his  head  incredulously. 

"Is  he  a  bird,  to  spread  his  wings;  or  is  he  a  fish,  to 
swim  without  air!  The  white  chief  reads  in  his  books,  and 
he  believes  the  Hurons  are  fools!  " 

"  Though  no  fish, '  The  long  Rifle  '  can  swim.  He  floated 
down  the  stream  when  the  powder  was  all  burnt,  and  when 
the  eyes  of  the  Hurons  were  behind  a  cloud." 

"And  why  did  the  white  chief  stay?  "  demanded  the  still 
incredulous  Indian,  "  Is  he  a  stone  that  goes  to  the  bottom. 
or  does  the  scalp  burn  his  head?  " 

"  That  I  am  not  a  stone,  your  dead  comrade,  who  fell  into 
the  falls,  might  answer,  were  the  life  still  in  him,"  said  the 
provoked  young  man,  using,  in  his  anger,  that  boastful  lan- 
guage which  was  most  likely  to  excite  the  admiration  of  an 
Indian.  "  The  white  man  thinks  none  but  cowards  desert 
their  women." 

Magua  muttered  a  few  words,  inaudibly,  between  his  teeth 
before  he  continued,  aloud — 

"  Can  the  Delawares  swim,  too,  as  well  as  crawl  in  the 
bushes?     Where  is  '  Le  gros  Serpent '?  " 

Duncan,  who  perceived  by  the  use  of  these  Canadian  ap- 
pellations, that  his  late  companions  were  much  better  known 
to  his  enemies  than  to  himself,  answered,  reluctantly,  "  He 
also  is  gone  down  with  the  water." 

"'  Le  Cerf  agile  '  is  not  here?  " 

"I  know  not  whom  you  call  'The  nimble  Deer,'"  said 
Duncan,  gladly  profiting  by  any  excuse  to  create  delay. 

"  Uncas,"  returned  Magua,  pronouncing  the  Delaware 
name  with  even  greater  difficulty  than  he  spoke  his  English 
words.  " '  Bounding  Elk '  is  what  the  white  man  says,  when 
he  calls  to  the  Young  Mohican." 

"Here  is  some  confusion  in  names  between  us,  Le  Re- 
nard,"  said  Duncan,  hoping  to  provoke  a  discussion. 
"Daim  is  the  French  for  deer,  and  cerf  for  stag;  e'lan  is 
the  true  term,  when  one  would  speak  of  an  elk." 

"Yes,"  muttered  the  Indian,  in  his  native  tongue;  "the 
8  J 


114  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

pale-faces  are  prattling  women !  they  have  two  words  for 
each  thing,  while  a  red-skin  will  make  the  sound  of  his 
voice  speak  for  him."  Then  changing  his  language,  he  con- 
tinued, adhering  to  the  imperfect  nomenclature  of  his  pro- 
vincial instructors,  "The  deer  is  swift,  but  weak;  the  elk  is 
swift,  but  strong,  and  the  son  of  '  Le  Serpent'  is  '  Le  Cerf 
agile,'     Has  he  leaped  the  river  to  the  woods?  " 

"  If  you  mean  the  younger  Delaware,  he  too  is  gone  down 
with  the  water." 

As  there  was  nothing  improbable  to  an  Indian  in  the 
manner  of  the  escape,  Magua  admitted  the  truth  of  what  he 
had  heard,  with  a  readiness  that  afforded  additional  evidence 
how  little  he  would  prize  such  worthless  captives.  With 
his  companions,  however,  the  feeling  was  manifestly  dif- 
ferent 

The  Hurons  had  awaited  the  result  of  this  short  dialogue 
with  characteristic  patience,  and  with  a  silence  that  in- 
creased until  there  was  a  general  stillness  in  the  band. 
When  Heyward  ceased  to  speak,  they  turned  their  eyes,  as 
one  man,  on  Magua,  demanding,  in  this  expressive  manner, 
an  explanation  of  what  had  been  said.  Their  interpreter 
pointed  to  the  river  and  made  them  acquainted  with  the 
result  as  much  by  the  action  as  by  the  few  words  he  uttered. 
When  the  fact  was  generally  understood,  the  savages  raised 
a  frightful  yell,  which  declared  the  extent  of  their  disap- 
pointment. Some  ran  furiously  to  the  water's  edge,  beat- 
ing the  air  with  frantic  gestures,  while  others  spat  upon 
the  element,  to  resent  the  supposed  treason  it  had  committed 
against  their  acknowledged  rights  as  conquerors.  A  few, 
and  they  not  the  least  powerful  and  terrific  of  the  band,  threw 
lowering  looks,  in  which  the  fiercest  passion  was  only  tem- 
pered by  habitual  self-command,  at  those  captives  who  still 
remained  in  their  power;  while  one  or  two  even  gave  vent 
to  their  malignant  feelings  by  the  most  menacing  gestures, 
against  which  neither  the  sex  nor  the  beauty  of  the  sisters 
was  any  protection.     The  young  soldier  made  a  desperate, 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  1 1 5 

but  fruitless  effort  to  spring  to  the  side  of  Alice,  when  he 
saw  the  dark  hand  of  a  savage  twisted  in  the  rich  tresses 
which  were  flowing  in  volumes  over  her  shoulders,  while  a 
knife  was  passed  around  the  head  from  which  they  fell,  as 
if  to  denote  the  horrid  manner  in  which  it  was  about  to 
be  robbed  of  its  beautiful  ornament.  But  his  hands  were 
bound;  and  at  the  first  movement  he  made,  he  felt  the  grasp 
of  the  powerful  Indian  who  directed  the  band,  pressing  his 
shoulder  like  a  vice.  Immediately  conscious  how  unavail- 
ing any  struggle  against  such  an  overwhelming  force  must 
prove,  he  submitted  to  his  fate,  encouraging  his  gentle  com- 
panions by  a  few  low  and  tender  assurances,  that  the  natives 
seldom  failed  to  threaten  more  than  they  performed. 

But,  while  Duncan  resorted  to  these  words  of  consolation 
to  quiet  the  apprehensions  of  the  sisters,  he  was  not  so  weak 
as  to  deceive  himself.  He  well  knew  that  the  authority  of 
an  Indian  chief  was  so  little  conventional,  that  it  was  oftener 
maintained  by  physical  superiority  than  by  any  moral  su- 
premacy he  might  possess.  The  danger  was,  therefore,  mag- 
nified exactly  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  the  savage 
spirits  by  which  they  were  surrounded.  The  most  positive 
mandate  from  him  who  seemed  the  acknowledged  leader, 
was  liable  to  be  violated  at  each  moment,  by  any  rash  hand 
that  might  choose  to  sacrifice  a  victim  to  the  manes  of  some 
dead  friend  or  relative.  While,  therefore,  he  sustained  an 
outward  appearance  of  calmness  and  fortitude,  his  heart 
leaped  into  his  throat  whenever  any  of  their  fierce  captors 
drew  nearer  than  common  to  the  helpless  sisters,  or  fastened 
one  of  their  sullen  wandering  looks  on  those  fragile  forms 
which  were  so  little  able  to  resist  the  slightest  assault. 

His  apprehensions  were,  however,  greatly  relieved  when 
he  saw  that  the  leader  had  summoned  his  warriors  to  himself 
in  council.  Their  deliberations  were  short,  and  it  would 
seem,  by  the  silence  of  most  of  the  party,  the  decision 
unanimous.  By  the  frequency  with  which  the  few  speakers 
pointed  in  the  direction  of  the  encampment  of  Webb,  it  was 


Il6  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

apparent  they  dreaded  the  approach  of  danger  from  that 
quarter.  This  consideration  probably  hastened  their  de- 
termination, and  quickened  the  subsequent  movements. 

During  this  short  conference,  Heyward,  finding  a  respite 
from  his  greatest  fears,  had  leisure  to  admire  the  cautious 
manner  in  which  the  Hurons  had  made  their  approaches, 
even  after  hostilities  had  ceased. 

It  has  already  been  stated,  that  the  upper  half  of  the 
island  was  a  naked  rock,  and  destitute  of  any  other  defences 
than  a  few  scattered  logs  of  driftwood.  They  had  selected 
this  point  to  make  their  descent,  having  borne  the  canoe 
through  the  wood  around  the  cataract  for  that  purpose. 
Placing  their  arms  in  the  little  vessel,  a  dozen  men  clinging 
to  its  sides  had  trusted  themselves  to  the  direction  of  the 
canoe,  which  was  controlled  by  twoof  the  most  skilful  war- 
riors, in  attitudes  that  enabled  them  to  corrtniand  a  view  of 
the  dangerous  passage.  Favored  by  this  arrangement,  they 
touched  the  head  of  the  island  at  that  point  which  had 
proved  so  fatal  to  their  first  adventurers,  but  with  the  ad- 
vantages of  superior  numbers,  and  the  possession  of  fire- 
arms. That  such  had  been  the  manner  of  their  descent  was 
rendered  quite  apparent  to  Duncan ;  for  they  now  bore  the 
light  bark  from  the  upper  end  of  the  rock,  and  placed  it  in 
the  water,  near  the  mouth  of  the  outer  cavern.  As  soon  as 
this  change  was  made,  the  leader  made  signs  to  the  prison- 
ers to  descend  and  enter. 

As  resistance  was  impossible,  and  remonstrance  useless, 
Heyward  set  the  example  of  submission  by  leading  the 
way  into  the  canoe,  where  he  was  soon  seated  with  the  sis- 
ters, and  the  still  wondering  David.  Notwithstanding  the 
Hurons  were  necessarily  ignorant  of  the  little  channels 
among  the  eddies  and  rapids  of  the  stream,  they  knew  the 
common  signs  of  such  a  navigation  too  well  to  commit  any 
material  blunder.  When  the  pilot  chosen  for  the  task  of 
guiding  the  canoe  had  taken  his  station,  the  whole  band 
plunged  again   into  the  river,  the  vessel  glided  down  the 


THE    LAST   OF    THE    MOHICANS.  WJ 

current,  and  in  a  few  moments  the  captives  found  them- 
selves on  the  south  bank  of  the  stream,  nearly  opposite  to 
the  point  where  they  had  struck  it  the  preceding  evening. 

Here  was  held  another  short  but  earnest  consultation, 
during  which  the  horses,  to  whose  panic  their  owners  as- 
cribed their  heaviest  misfortune,  were  led  from  the  cover  of 
the  woods,  and  brought  to  the  sheltered  spot.  The  band 
now  divided.  The  great  chief  so  often  mentioned,  mount- 
ing the  charger  of  Heyward,  led  the  way  directly  across  the 
river,  followed  by  most  of  his  people,  and  disappeared  in 
the  woods,  leaving  the  prisoners  in  charge  of  six  savages,  at 
whose  head  was  Le  Renard  Subtil.  Duncan  witnessed  all 
their  movements  with  renewed  uneasiness. 

He  had  been  fond  of  believing,  from  the  uncommon  for- 
bearance of  the  savages,  that  he  was  reserved  as  a  prisoner 
to  be  delivered  to  Montcalm.  As  the  thoughts  of  those 
who  are  in  misery  seldom  slumber,  and  the  invention  is 
never  more  lively  than  when  it  is  stimulated  by  hope,  how- 
ever feeble  and  remote,  he  had  even  imagined  that  the  pa- 
rental feelings  of  Munro  were  to  be  made  instrumental  in 
seducing  him  from  his  duty  to  the  king.  For  though  the 
French  commander  bore  a  high  character  for  courage  and 
enterprise,  he  was  also  thought  to  be  expert  in  those  political 
practices  which  do  not  always  respect  the  nicer  obligations 
of  morality,  and  which  so  generally  disgraced  the  European 
diplomacy  of  that  period. 

All  those  busy  and  ingenious  speculations  were  now  an- 
nihilated by  the  conduct  of  his  captors.  That  portion  of 
the  band  who  had  followed  the  huge  warrior  took  the  route 
toward  the  foot  of  the  Horican,  and  no  other  expectation 
was  left  for  himself  and  companions,  than  that  they  were  to 
be  retained  as  hopeless  captives  by  their  savage  conquerors. 
Anxious  to  know  the  worst,  and  willing,  in  such  an  emer- 
gency, to  try  the  potency  of  gold,  he  overcame  his  reluc- 
tance to  speak  to  Magua.  Addressing  himself  to  his  former 
guide,  who  had  now  assumed  the  authority  and  manner  of 


Il8  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

one  who  was  to  direct  the  future  movements  of  the  party, 
he  said,  in  tones  as  friendly  and  confiding  as  he  could  as- 
sume— 

"  I  would  speak  to  Magua,  what  is  fit  only  for  so  great  a 
chief  to  hear." 

The  Indian  turned  his  eyes  on  the  young  soldier  scorn- 
fully, as  he  answered — 

"Speak;  trees  have  no  ears!  " 

"But  the  red  Huronsare  not  deaf;  and  counsel  that  is  fit 
for  the  great  men  of  a  nation  would  make  the  young  war- 
riors drunk.  If  Magua  will  not  listen,  the  officer  of  the 
king  knows  how  to  be  silent." 

The  savage  spoke  carelessly  to  his  comrades,  who  were 
busied,  after  their  awkward  manner,  in  preparing  the  horses 
for  the  reception  of  the  sisters,  and  moved  a  little  to  one 
side,  whither,  by  a  cautious  gesture,  he  induced  Heyward  to 
follow. 

"Now  speak,"  he  said;  "  if  the  words  are  such  as  Magua 
should  hear." 

"  Le  Renard  Subtil  has  proved  himself  worthy  of  the 
honorable  name  given  to  him  by  his  Canada  fathers,"  com- 
menced Heyward,  "  I  see  his  wisdom,  and  all  that  he  has 
done  for  us,  and  shall  remember  it,  when  the  hour  to  re- 
ward him  arrives.  Yes !  Renard  has  proved  that  he  is  not 
only  a  great  chief  in  council,  but  one  who  knows  how  to 
deceive  his  enemies!  " 

".What  has  Renard  done?  "  coldly  demanded  the  Indian. 

"What!  has  he  not  seen  that  the  woods  were  filled  with 
outlying  parties  of  the  enemies,  and  that  the  serpent  could  not 
steal  through  them  without  being  seen?  Then,  did  he  not 
lose  his  path  to  blind  the  eyes  of  the  Hurons?  Did  he 
not  pretend  to  go  back  to  his  tribe,  who  had  treated  him  ill, 
and  driven  him  from  their  wigwams  like  a  dog?  And,  when 
we  saw  what  he  wished  to  do,  did  we  not  aid  him,  by  mak- 
ing a  false  face,  that  the  Hurons  might  think  the  white  man 
believed  that  his  friend  was  his  enemy?     Is  not  all  this 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  I  19 

true?  And  when  Le  Subtil  had  shut  the  eyes  and  stopped 
the  ears  of  his  nation  by  his  wisdom,  did  they  not  forget 
that  they  had  once  done  him  wrong,  and  forced  him  to  flee 
to  the  Mohawks?  And  did  they  not  leave  him  on  the  south 
side  of  the  river,  with  their  prisoners,  while  they  have  gone 
foolishly  on  the  north?  Does  not  Renard  mean  to  turn  like 
a  fox  on  his  footsteps,  and  carry  to  the  rich  and  gray-headed 
Scotchman  his  daughters?  Yes,  Magua,  I  see  it  all,  and  I 
have  already  been  thinking  how  so  much  wisdom  and  hon- 
esty should  be  repaid.  First,  the  chief  of  William  Henry 
will  give  as  a  great  chief  should  for  such  a  service.  The 
medal  *  of  Magua  will  no  longer  be  of  tin,  but  of  beaten 
gold;  his  horn  will  run  over  with  powder;  dollars  will  be 
as  plenty  in  his  pouch  as  pebbles  on  the  shore  of  Horican; 
and  the  deer  will  lick  his  hand,  for  they  will  know  it  to  be 
vain  to  fly  from  the  rifle  he  will  carry !  As  for  myself,  I 
know  not  how  to  exceed  the  gratitude  of  the  Scotchman,  but 
I— yes,  I  will " 

"What  will  the  young  chief  who  comes  from  toward  the 
sun,  give?  "  demanded  the  Huron,  observing  that  Hey  ward 
hesitated  in  his  desire  to  end  the  enumeration  of  benefits 
with  that  which  might  form  the  climax  of  an  Indian's  wishes. 

"  He  will  make  the  fire-water  from  the  Islands  in  the  salt 
lake  flow  before  the  wigwam  of  Magua,  until  the  heart  of 
the  Indian  shall  be  lighter  than  the  feathers  of  the  humming- 
bird, and  his  breath  sweeter  than  the  wild  honeysuckle." 

Le  Renard  had  listened  gravely  as  Heyward  slowly  pro- 
ceeded in  this  subtle  speech.  When  the  young  man  men- 
tioned the  artifice  he  supposed  the  Indian  to  have  practised 
on  his  own  nation,  the  countenance  of  the  listener  was  veiled 
in  an  expression  of  cautious  gravity.  At  the  allusion  to  the 
injury  which  Duncan  affected  to  believe  had  driven  the 
Huron  from  his  native  tribe,  a  gleam  of  such  ungovernable 

*  It  has  long  been  a  practice  with  the  whites  to  conciliate  the  important  men  of  the 
Indians  by  presenting  medals,  which  are  worn  in  the  place  of  their  own  rude  orna- 
ments. Those  given  by  the  English  generally  bear  the  impression  of  the  reigning 
king,  and  those  given  by  the  Americans  that  of  the  president. 


120  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

ferocity  flashed  from  the  other's  eyes,  as  induced  the  adven- 
turous speaker  to  believe  he  had  struck  the  proper  chord. 
And  by  the  time  he  reached  the  part  where  he  so  artfully 
blended  the  thirst  of  vengeance  with  the  desire  of  gain,  he 
had,  at  least,  obtained  a  command  of  the  deepest  attention 
of  the  savage.  The  question  put  by  Le  Renard  had  been 
calm,  and  with  all  the  dignity  of  an  Indian;  but  it  was 
quite  apparent,  by  the  thoughtful  expression  of  the  listener's 
countenance,  that  the  answer  was  most  cunningly  devised. 
The  Huron  mused  a  few  moments,  and  then  laying  his  hand 
on  the  rude  bandages  of  his  wounded  shoulder,  he  said,  with 
some  energy — 

"  Do  friends  make  such  marks?  " 

"  Would  '  La  longue  Carabine '  cut  one  so  light  on  an 
enemy?  " 

"  Do  the  Delawares  crawl  upon  those  they  love  like  snakes, 
twisting  themselves  to  strike?  " 

"Would  '  Le  gros  Serpent'  have  been  heard  by  the  ears 
of  one  he  wished  to  be  deaf?  " 

"  Does  the  white  chief  burn  his  powder  in  the  faces  of 
his  brothers  ?  " 

"  Does  he  ever  miss  his  aim,  when  seriously  bent  to  kill?  " 
returned  Duncan,  smiling  with  well-acted  sincerity. 

Another  long  and  deliberate  pause  succeeded  these  sen- 
tentious questions  and  ready  replies.  Duncan  saw  that  the 
Indian  hesitated.  In  order  to  complete  his  victory,  he  was 
in  the  act  of  recommencing  the  enumeration  of  the  rewards, 
when  Magua  made  an  expressive  gesture,  and  said — 

"Enough;  Le  Renard  is  a  wise  chief,  and  what  he  does 
will  be  seen.  Go,  and  keep  the  mouth  shut.  When  Magua 
speaks,  it  will  be  the  time  to  answer." 

Heyward,  perceiving  that  the  eyes  of  his  companion  were 
warily  fastened  on  the  rest  of  the  band,  fell  back  immedi- 
ately, in  order  to  avoid  the  appearance  of  any  suspicious 
confederacy  with  their  leader.  Magua  approached  the 
horses,  and  affected  to  be  well  pleased  with  the  diligence 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  121 

and  ingenuity  of  his  comrades.  He  then  signed  to  Hey- 
ward  to  assist  the  sisters  into  the  saddles,  for  he  seldom 
deigned  to  use  the  English  tongue,  unless  urged  by  some 
motive  of  more  than  usual  moment. 

There  was  no  longer  any  plausible  pretext  for  delay;  and 
Duncan  was  obliged,  however  reluctantly,  to  comply.  As 
he  performed  this  office,  he  whispered  his  reviving  hopes  in 
the  ears  of  the  trembling  females,  who,  through  dread  of 
encountering  the  savage  countenances  of  their  captors,  sel- 
dom raised  their  eyes  from  the  ground.  The  mare  of  David 
had  been  taken  with  the  followers  of  the  large  chief;  in 
consequence,  its  owner,  as  well  as  Duncan,  were  compelled 
to  journey  on  foot.  The  latter  did  not,  however,  so  much 
regret  this  circumstance,  as  it  might  enable  him  to  retard 
the  speed  of  the  party;  for  he  still  turned  his  longing  looks 
in  the  direction  of  Fort  Edward,  in  the  vain  expectation  of 
catching  some  sound  from  that  quarter  of  the  forest  which 
might  denote  the  approach  of  succor. 

When  all  were  prepared,  Magua  made  the  signal  to  pro- 
ceed, advancing  in  front  to  lead  the  party  in  person.  Next 
followed  David,  who  was  gradually  coming  to  a  true  sense 
of  his  condition,  as  the  effects  of  the  wound  became  less 
and  less  apparent.  The  sisters  rode  in  his  rear,  with  Hey- 
ward  at  their  side,  while  the  Indians  flanked  the  party, 
and  brought  up  the  close  of  the  march,  with  a  caution  that 
seemed  never  to  tire. 

In  this  manner  they  proceeded  in  uninterrupted  silence, 
except  when  Heyward  addressed  some  solitary  word  of  com- 
fort to  the  females,  or  David  gave  vent  to  the  moanings  of 
his  spirit,  in  piteous  exclamations,  which  he  intended  should 
express  the  humility  of  resignation.  Their  direction  lay 
toward  the  south,  and  in  a  course  nearly  opposite  to  the 
road  to  William  Henry.  Notwithstanding  this  apparent 
adherence  in  Magua  to  the  original  determination  of  his 
conquerors,  Heyward  could  not  believe  his  tempting  bait 
was  so  soon  forgotten;    and  he  knew  the  windings  of  an 


122  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

Indian  path  too  well,  to  suppose  that  its  apparent  course 
led  directly  to  its  object,  when  artifice  was  at  all  necessary. 
Mile  after  mile  was,  however,  passed  through  the  boundless 
woods  in  this  painful  manner,  without  any  prospect  of  a 
termination  to  their  journey.  Heyward  watched  the  sun,  as 
he  darted  his  meridian  rays  through  the  branches  of  the 
trees,  and  pined  for  the  moment  when  the  policy  of  Magua 
should  change  their  route  to  one  more  favorable  to  his  hopes. 
Sometimes  he  fancied  the  wary  savage,  despairing  of  pass- 
ing the  army  of  Montcalm  in  safety,  was  holding  his  way 
toward  a  well-known  border  settlement,  where  a  distin- 
guished officer  of  the  crown,  and  a  favored  friend  of  the  Six 
Nations,  held  his  large  possessions,  as  well  as  his  usual 
residence.  To  be  delivered  into  the  hands  of  Sir  William 
Johnson  was  far  preferable  to  being  led  into  the  wilds  of 
Canada ;  but  in  order  to  effect  even  the  former,  it  would  be 
necessary  to  traverse  the  forest  for  many  weary  leagues,  each 
step  of  which  was  carrying  him  further  from  the  scene  of 
the  war,  and,  consequently,  from  the  post,  not  only  of  honor, 
but  of  duty. 

Cora  alone  remembered  the  parting  injunctions  of  the 
scout,  and  whenever  an  opportunity  offered,  she  stretched 
forth  her  arm  to  bend  aside  the  twigs  that  met  her  hands. 
But  the  vigilance  of  the  Indians  rendered  this  act  of  pre- 
caution both  difficult  and  dangerous.  She  was  often  de- 
feated in  her  purpose,  by  encountering  their  watchful  eyes, 
when  it  became  necessary  to  feign  an  alarm  she  did  not  feel, 
and  occupy  the  limb  by  some  gesture  of  feminine  apprehen- 
sion. Once,  and  once  only,  was  she  completely  successful; 
when  she  broke  down  the  bough  of  a  large  sumach,  and,  by 
a  sudden  thought,  let  her  glove  fall  at  the  same  instant. 
This  sign,  intended  for  those  that  might  follow,  was  ob- 
served by  one  of  her  conductors,  who  restored  the  glove, 
broke  the  remaining  branches  of  the  bush  in  such  a  manner 
that  it  appeared  to  proceed  from  the  struggling  of  some 
beast  in  its  branches,  and  then  laid  his  hand  on  his  toma- 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  123 

hawk,  with  a  look  so  significant,  that  it  put  an  effectual  end 
to  these  stolen  memorials  of  their  passage. 

As  there  were  horses,  to  leave  the  prints  of  their  foot 
steps,  in  both  bands  of  the  Indians,  this  interruption  cut  off 
any  probable  hopes  of  assistance  being  conveyed  through 
the  means  of  their  trail. 

Heyward  would  have  ventured  a  remonstrance,  had  there 
been  anything  encouraging  in  the  gloomy  reserve  of  Magua. 
But  the  savage,  during  all  this  time,  seldom  turned  to  look 
at  his  followers,  and  never  spoke.  With  the  sun  for  his 
only  guide,  or  aided  by  such  blind  marks  as  are  only  known 
to  the  sagacity  of  a  native,  he  held  his  way  along  the 
barrens  of  pine,  through  occasional  little  fertile  vales,  across 
brooks  and  rivulets,  and  over  undulating  hills,  with  the 
accuracy  of  instinct,  and  nearly  with  the  directness  of  a 
bird.  He  never  seemed  to  hesitate.  Whether  the  path  was 
hardly  distinguishable,  whether  it  disappeared,  or  whether 
it  lay  beaten  and  plain  before  him,  made  no  sensible  differ- 
ence in  his  speed  or  certainty.  It  seemed  as  if  fatigue  could 
not  affect  him.  Whenever  the  eyes  of  the  wearied  travellers 
rose  from  the  decayed  leaves  over  which  they  trode,  his  dark 
form  was  to  be  seen  glancing  among  the  stems  of  the  trees 
in  front,  his  head  immovably  fastened  in  a  forward  position, 
with  the  light  plume  on  his  crest  fluttering  in  a  current  of 
air,  made  solely  by  the  swiftness  of  his  own  motion. 

But  all  this  diligence  and  speed  were  not  without  an  ob- 
ject. After  crossing  a  low  vale,  through  which  a  gushing 
brook  meandered,  he  suddenly  ascended  a  hill,  so  steep  and 
difficult  of  ascent,  that  the  sisters  were  compelled  to  alight 
in  order  to  follow.  When  the  summit  was  gained,  they 
found  themselves  on  a  level  spot,  but  thinly  covered  with 
trees,  under  one  of  which  Magua  had  thrown  his  dark  form, 
as  if  willing  and  ready  to  seek  that  rest  which  was  so  much 
needed  by  the  whole  party. 


124  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 


CHAPTER   XL 

"  Cursed  be  ray  tribe 

If  I  forgive  him."  Shylock. 

The  Indian  had  selected,  for  this  desirable  purpose,  one 
of  those  steep,  pyramidal  hills,  which  bear  a  strong  re- 
semblance to  artificial  mounds,  and  which  so  frequently 
occur  in  the  valleys  of  America.  The  one  in  question  was 
high  and  precipitous;  its  top  flattened,  as  usual;  but  with 
one  of  its  sides  more  than  ordinarily  irregular.  It  pos- 
sessed no  other  apparent  advantage,  for  a  resting-place,  than 
in  its  elevation  and  form,  which  might  render  defence  easy, 
and  surprise  nearly  impossible.  As  Heyward,  however,  no 
longer  expected  that  rescue  which  time  and  distance  now 
rendered  so  improbable,  he  regarded  these  little  peculiarities 
with  an  eye  devoid  of  interest,  devoting  himself  entirely  to 
the  comfort  and  condolence  of  his  feebler  companions.  The 
Narragansets  were  suffered  to  browse  on  the  branches  of  the 
trees  and  shrubs  that  were  thinly  scattered  over  the  summit 
of  the  hill,  while  the  remains  of  their  provisions  were  spread 
under  the  shade  of  a  beech,  that  stretched  its  horizontal 
limbs  like  a  canopy  above  them. 

Notwithstanding  the  swiftness  of  their  flight,  one  of  the 
Indians  had  found  an  opportunity  to  strike  a  straggling  fawn 
with  an  arrow,  and  had  borne  the  more  preferable  fragments 
of  the  victim,  patiently  on  his  shoulders,  to  the  stopping- 
place.  Without  any  aid  from  the  science  of  cookery,  he 
was  immediately  employed,  in  common  with  his  fellows,  in 
gorging  himself  with  this  digestible  sustenance.  Magua 
alone  sat  apart,  without  participating  in  the  revolting  meal, 
and  apparently  buried  in  the  deepest  thought. 

This  abstinence,  so  remarkable  in  an  Indian,  when  he 
possessed  the  means  of  satisfying  hunger,  at  length  attracted 
the  notice  of  Heyward.     The  young  man  willingly  believed 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  1 25 

that  the  Huron  deliberated  on  the  most  eligible  manner  of 
eluding  the  vigilance  of  his  associates.  With  a  view  to 
assist  his  plans,  by  any  suggestion  of  his  own,  and  to 
strengthen  the  temptation,  he  left  the  beech,  and  straggled 
as  if  without  an  object  to  the  spot  where  Le  Renard  was 
seated. 

"  Has  not  Magua  kept  the  sun  in  his  face  long  enough  to 
escape  all  danger  from  the  Canadians?  "  he  asked,  as  though 
no  longer  doubtful  of  the  good  intelligence  established  be- 
tween them ;  "  and  will  not  the  chief  of  William  Henry  be 
better  pleased  to  see  his  daughters  before  another  night 
may  have  hardened  his  heart  to  their  loss,  to  make  him  less 
liberal  in  his  reward?  " 

"  Do  the  pale-faces  love  their  children  less  in  the  morn- 
ing than  at  night?  "  asked  the  Indian,  coldly. 

"  By  no  means,"  returned  Heyward,  anxious  to  recall 
his  error,  if  he  had  made  one;  "the  white  man  may,  and 
does  often,  forget  the  burial-place  of  his  fathers;  he  some- 
times ceases  to  remember  those  he  should  love,  and  has 
promised  to  cherish;  but  the  affection  of  a  parent  for  his 
child  is  never  permitted  to  die." 

"  And  is  the  heart  of  the  white-headed  chief  soft,  and 
will  he  think  of  the  babes  that  his  squaws  have  given  him? 
He  is  hard  to  his  warriors,  and  his  eyes  are  made  of  stone !  " 

"  He  is  severe  to  the  idle  and  wicked,  but  to  the  sober 
and  deserving  he  is  a  leader,  both  just  and  humane.  I  have 
known  many  fond  and  tender  parents,  but  never  have  I  seen 
a  man  whose  heart  was  softer  toward  his  child.  You  have 
seen  the  gray-head  in  front  of  his  warriors,  Magua;  but  I 
have  seen  his  eyes  swimming  in  water,  when  he  spoke  of 
those  children  who  are  now  in  your  power!  " 

Heyward  paused,  for  he  knew  not  how  to  construe  the  re- 
markable expression  that  gleamed  across  the  swarthy  features 
of  the  attentive  Indian.  At  first  it  seemed  as  if  the  re- 
membrance of  the  promised  reward  grew  vivid  in  his  mind, 
while  he  listened  to  the  sources  of  parental  feeling  which 


126  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

were  to  assure  its  possession ;  but  as  Duncan  proceeded, 
the  expression  of  joy  became  so  fiercely  malignant,  that  it 
was  impossible  not  to  apprehend  it  proceeded  from  some 
passion  more  sinister  than  avarice. 

"  Go,"  said  the  Huron,  suppressing  the  alarming  exhibi- 
tion in  an  instant,  in  a  death-like  calmness  of  countenance; 
"  go  to  the  dark-haired  daughter,  and  say,  Magua  waits  to 
speak.  The  father  will  remember  what  the  child  prom- 
ises." 

Duncan,  who  interpreted  this  speech  to  express  a  wish 
for  some  additional  pledge  that  the  promised  gifts  should 
not  be  withheld,  slowly  and  reluctantly  repaired  to  the  place 
where  the  sisters  were  now  resting  from  their  fatigue,  to 
communicate  its  purport  to  Cora. 

"  You  understand  the  nature  of  an  Indian's  wishes,"  he 
concluded,  as  he  led  her  toward  the  place  where  she  was 
expected,  "  and  must  be  prodigal  of  your  offers  of  powder 
and  blankets.  Ardent  spirits  are,  however,  the  most  prized 
by  such  as  he ,  nor  would  it  be  amiss  to  add  some  boon  from 
your  own  hand,  with  that  grace  you  so  well  know  how  to 
practise.  Remember,  Cora,  that  on  your  presence  of  mind 
and  ingenuity  even  your  life,  as  •veil  as  that  of  Alice,  may 
in  some  measure  depend." 

"  Heyward,  and  yours !  " 

"  Mine  is  of  little  moment,  it  is  already  sold  to  my  king, 
and  is  a  prize  to  be  seized  by  any  enemy  who  may  possess 
the  power.  I  have  no  father  to  expect  me,  and  but  few 
friends  to  lament  a  fate  which  I  have  courted  with  the  un- 
salable longings  of  youth  after  distinction.  But  hush;  we 
approach  the  Indian.  Magua,  the  lady  with  whom  you  wish 
to  speak,  is  here." 

The  Indian  rose  slowly  from  his  seat,  and  stood  for  near 
a  minute  silent  and  motionless.  He  then  signed  with  his 
hand  for  Heyward  to  retire,  saying  coldly, — 

"  When  the  Huron  talks  to  the  women,  his  tribe  shut  their 
ears." 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  12J 

Duncan  still  lingering,  as  if  refusing  to  comply,  Cora 
said,  with  a  calm  smile, — 

"  You  hear,  Heyward,  and  delicacy  at  least  should  urge 
you  to  retire.  Go  to  Alice,  and  comfort  her  with  our  re- 
viving prospects." 

She  waited  until  he  had  departed,  and  then  turning  to  the 
native,  with  the  dignity  of  her  sex  in  her  voice  and  manner, 
she  added,  "  What  would  Le  Renard  say  to  the  daughter  of 
Munro?  " 

"Listen,"  said  the  Indian,  laying  his  hand  firmly  upon 
her  arm,  as  if  willing  to  draw  her  utmost  attention  to  his 
words;  a  movement  that  Cora  as  firmly  but  quietly  repulsed, 
by  extricating  the  limb  from  his  grasp — "  Magua  was  born 
a  chief  and  a  warrior  among  the  red  Hurons  of  the  lakes ; 
he  saw  the  suns  of  twenty  summers  make  the  snows  of  twenty 
winters  run  off  in  the  streams,  before  he  saw  a  pale-face ; 
and  he  was  happy !  Then  his  Canada  fathers  came  into  the 
woods,  and  taught  him  to  drink  the  fire-water,  and  he  be- 
came a  rascal.  The  Hurons  drove  him  from  the  graves  of 
his  fathers,  as  they  would  chase  the  hunted  buffalo.  He 
ran  down  the  shores  of  the  lakes,  and  followed  their  outlet 
to  the  '  city  of  cannon.'  There  he  hunted  and  fished,  till 
the  people  chased  him  again  through  the  woods  into  the 
arms  of  his  enemies.  The  chief,  who  was  born  a  Huron, 
was  at  last  a  warrior  among  the  Mohawks !  " 

"  Something  like  this  I  had  heard  before,"  said  Cora,  ob- 
serving that  he  paused  to  suppress  those  passions  which 
began  to  burn  with  too  bright  a  flame,  as  he  recalled  the 
recollection  of  his  supposed  injuries. 

"  Was  it  the  fault  of  Le  Renard  that  his  head  was  not 
made  of  rock?  Who  gave  him  the  fire-water?  who  made 
him  a  villain?  'Twas  the  pale-faces,  the  people  of  your 
own  color." 

"  And  am  I  answerable  that  thoughtless  and  unprincipled 
men  exist,  whose  shades  of  countenance  may  resemble 
mine?  "  Cora  calmly  demanded  of  the  excited  savage. 


128  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

"  No ;  Magua  is  a  man,  and  not  a  fool ;  such  as  you  never 
open  their  lips  to  the  burning  stream:  the  Great  Spirit  has 
given  you  wisdom!  " 

"What  then  have  I  to  do,  or  say,  in  the  matter  of  your 
misfortunes,  not  to  say  of  your  errors?  " 

"  Listen,"  repeated  the  Indian,  resuming  his  earnest  atti- 
tude ;  "  when  his  English  and  French  fathers  dug  up  the 
hatchet,  Le  Renard  struck  the  war-post  of  the  Mohawks,  and 
went  out  against  his  own  nation.  The  pale-faces  have 
driven  the  red-skins  from  their  hunting-grounds,  and  now, 
when  they  fight,  a  white  man  leads  the  way.  The  old  chief 
at  Horican,  your  father,  was  the  great  captain  of  our  war- 
party.  He  said  to  the  Mohawks  do  this,  and  do  that,  and  he 
was  minded.  He  made  a  law,  that  if  an  Indian  swallowed 
the  fire-water,  and  came  into  the  cloth  wigwams  of  his 
warriors,  it  should  not  be  forgotten.  Magua  foolishly  opened 
his  mouth,  and  the  hot  liquor  led  him  into  the  cabin  of 
Munro.     What  did  the  gray-head?  let  his  daughter  say." 

"  He  forgot  not  his  words,  and  did  justice,  by  punishing 
the  offender,"  said  the  undaunted  daughter. 

"Justice!  "  repeated  the  Indian,  casting  an  oblique  glance 
of  the  most  ferocious  expression  at  her  unyielding  counte- 
nance, "is  it  justice  to  make  evil,  and  then  punish  for  it? 
Magua  was  not  him  iolf ,  it  was  the  fire-water  that  spoke  and 
acted  for  him !  bu'  Munro  did  not  believe  it.  The  Huron 
chief  was  tied  up  before  all  the  pale-faced  warriors,  and 
whipped  like  a  dog." 

Cora  remained  silent,  for  she  knew  not  how  to  palliate 
this  imprudent  severity  on  the  part  of  her  father,  in  a  man- 
ner to  suit  the  comprehension  of  an  Indian. 

"See!  "  continued  Magua,  tearing  aside  the  slight  calico 
that  very  imperfectly  concealed  his  painted  breast;  "here 
are  scars  given  by  knives  and  bullets — of  these  a  warrior 
may  boast  before  his  nation;  but  the  gray-head  has  left 
marks  on  the  back  of  the  Huron  chief,  that  he  must  hide, 
like  a  squaw,  under  this  painted  cloth  of  the  whites." 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  1 29 

"  I  had  thought,"  resumed  Cora,  "  that  an  Indian  warrior 
was  patient,  and  that  his  spirit  felt  not,  and  knew  not,  the 
pain  his  body  suffered  ?  " 

"  When  the  Chippewas  tied  Magua  to  the  stake,  and  cut 
this  gash,"  said  the  other,  laying  his  finger  on  a  deep  scar, 
"the  Huron  laughed  in  their  faces,  and  told  them,  Women 
struck  so  light!  His  spirit  was  then  in  the  clouds!  But 
when  he  felt  the  blows  of  Munro,  his  spirit  lay  under  the 
birch.  The  spirit  of  a  Huron  is  never  drunk;  it  remembers 
for  ever ! " 

"  But  it  may  be  appeased.  If  my  father  has  done  you 
this  injustice,  show  him  how  an  Indian  can  forgive  an  in- 
jury, and  take  back  his  daughters.  You  have  heard  from 
Major  Heyward " 

Magua  shook  his  head,  forbidding  the  repetition  of  offers 
he  so  much  despised. 

"What  would  you  have?"  continued  Cora,  after  a  most 
painful  pause,  while  the  conviction  forced  itself  on  her 
mind,  that  the  too  sanguine  and  generous  Duncan  had  been 
cruelly  deceived  by  the  cunning  of  the  savage. 

"  What  a  Huron  loves — good  for  good ;  bad  for  bad !  " 

"  You  would  then  revenge  the  injury  inflicted  by  Munro 
on  his  helpless  daughters.  Would  it  not  be  more  like  a 
man  to  go  before  his  face,  and  take  the  satisfaction  of  a 
warrior?  " 

"The  arms  of  the  pale-faces  are  long,  and  their  knives 
sharp !  "  returned  the  savage,  with  a  malignant  laugh :  "  why 
should  Le  Renard  go  among  the  muskets  of  his  warriors, 
when  he  holds  the  spirit  of  the  gray-head  in  his  hand  ?  " 

"Name  your  intention,  Magua,"  said  Cora,  struggling 
with  herself  to  speak  with  steady  calmness.  "  Is  it  to  lead 
us  prisoners  to  the  woods,  or  do  you  contemplate  even  some 
greater  evil?  Is  there  no  reward,  no  means  of  palliating 
the  injury,  and  of  softening  your  heart?  At  least,  release 
my  gentle  sister,  and  pour  out  all  your  malice  on  me.  Pur- 
chase wealth  by  her  safety  and  satisfy  your  revenge  with  a 


I30  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

single  victim.  The  loss  of  both  his  daughters  might  bring 
the  aged  man  to  his  grave,  and  where  would  then  be  the 
satisfaction  of  Le  Renard?  " 

"  Listen,"  said  the  Indian  again.  "The  light  eyes  can 
go  back  to  the  Horican,  and  tell  the  old  chief  what  has 
been  done,  if  the  dark-haired  woman  will  swear  by  the  Great 
Spirit  of  her  fathers  to  tell  no  lie." 

"What  must  I  promise?"  demanded  Cora,  still  main- 
taining a  secret  ascendency  over  the  fierce  native,  by  the 
collected  and  feminine  dignity  of  her  presence. 

"When  Magua  left  his  people,  his  wife  was  given  to  an- 
other chief;  he  has  now  made  friends  with  the  Hurons,  and 
will  go  back  to  the  graves  of  his  tribe,  on  the  shores  of  the 
great  lake.  Let  the  daughter  of  the  English  chief  follow, 
and  live  in  his  wigwam  for  ever." 

However  revolting  a  proposal  of  such  a  character  might 
prove  to  Cora,  she  retained,  notwithstanding  her  powerful 
disgust,  sufficient  self-command  to  reply,  without  betraying 
the  weakness. 

"  And  what  pleasure  would  Magua  find  in  sharing  his 
cabin  with  a  wife  he  did  not  love;  one  who  would  be  of  a 
nation  and  color  different  from  his  own?  It  would  be 
better  to  take  the  gold  of  Munro,  and  buy  the  heart  of  some 
Huron  maid  with  his  gifts." 

The  Indian  made  no  reply  for  near  a  minute,  but  bent  his 
fierce  looks  on  the  countenance  of  Cora,  in  such  wavering 
glances,  that  her  eyes  sank  with  shame,  under  an  impression, 
that,  for  the  first  time,  they  had  encountered  an  expression 
that  no  chaste  female  might  endure.  While  she  was  shrink- 
ing within  herself,  in  dread  of  having  her  ears  wounded  by 
some  proposal  still  more  shocking  than  the  last,  the  voice 
of  Magua  answered,  in  its  tones  of  deepest  malignancy — 

"  When  the  blows  scorched  the  back  of  the  Huron,  he 
would  know  where  to  find  a  woman  to  feel  the  smart.  The 
daughter  of  Munro  would  draw  his  water,  hoe  his  corn,  and 
cook  his  venison.     The  body  of  the  gray-head  would  sleep 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  131 

among  his  cannon,  but  his  heart  would  lie  within  reach  of 
the  knife  of  Le  Subtil." 

"  Monster !  well  dost  thou  deserve  thy  treacherous  name !  " 
cried  Cora,  in  an  ungovernable  burst  of  filial  indignation. 
"None  but  a  fiend  could  meditate  such  a  vengeance!  But 
thou  over-ratest  thy  power!  You  shall  find  it  is,  in  truth, 
the  heart  of  Munro  you  hold,  and  that  it  will  defy  your 
utmost  malice!  " 

The  Indian  answered  this  bold  defiance  by  a  ghastly 
smile,  that  showed  an  unaltered  purpose,  while  he  motioned 
her  away,  as  if  to  close  the  conference  for  ever.  Cora,  al- 
ready regretting  her  precipitation,  was  obliged  to  comply; 
for  Magua  instantly  left  the  spot,  and  approached  his  glut- 
tonous comrades.  Heyward  flew  to  the  side  of  the  agitated 
female,  and  demanded  the  result  of  a  dialogue,  that  he  had 
watched  at  a  distance  with  so  much  interest.  But  unwilling 
to  alarm  the  fears  of  Alice,  she  evaded  a  direct  reply,  be- 
traying only  by  her  countenance  her  utter  want  of  success, 
and  keeping  her  anxious  looks  fastened  on  the  slightest 
movements  of  their  captors.  To  the  reiterated  aud  earnest 
questions  of  her  sister,  concerning  their  provable  destina- 
tion, she  made  no  other  answer  than  by  pointing  toward 
the  dark  group,  with  an  agitation  she  could  not  control,  and 
murmuring,  as  she  folded  Alice  to  her  bosom  — 

"There,  there;  read  our  fortunes  in  their  laces;  we  shall 
see ;  we  shall  see !  " 

The  action,  and  the  choked  utterance  of  Cora,  spoke  more 
impressively  than  any  words,  and  quickly  drew  the  attention 
of  her  companions  on  that  spot,  where  her  own  was  riveted 
with  an  intenseness  that  nothing  but  the  importance  of  the 
stake  could  create. 

When  Magua  reached  the  cluster  of  lolling  savages,  who, 
gorged  with  their  disgusting  meal,  lay  stretched  on  the  earth 
in  brutal  indulgence,  he  commenced  speaking  with  the 
dignity  of  an  Indian  chief.  The  first  syllables  he  uttered 
ijad  the  effect  to  cause  his  listeners  to  raise  themselves  in 


132  THE   LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

attitudes  of  respectful  attention.  As  the  Huron  used  his 
native  language,  the  prisoners,  notwithstanding  the  caution 
of  the  natives  had  kept  them  within  the  swing  of  their  toma- 
hawks, could  only  conjecture  the  substance  of  his  harangue, 
from  the  nature  of  those  significant  gestures  with  which  an 
Indian  always  illustrates  his  eloquence. 

At  first,  the  language,  as  well  as  the  action  of  Magua, 
appeared  calm  and  deliberative.  When  he  had  succeeded 
in  sufficiently  awakening  the  attention  of  his  comrades, 
Heyward  fancied,  by  his  pointing  so  frequently  toward  the 
direction  of  the  great  lakes,  that  he  spoke  of  the  land  of 
their  fathers,  and  of  their  distant  tribe.  Frequent  indica- 
tions of  applause  escaped  the  listeners,  who,  as  they  uttered 
the  expressive  "  Hugh!  "  looked  at  each  other  in  commenda- 
tion of  the  speaker.  Le  Renard  was  too  skilful  to  neglect 
his  advantage.  He  now  spoke  of  the  long  and  painful  route 
by  which  they  had  left  those  spacious  grounds  and  happy 
villages,  to  come  and  battle  against  the  enemies  of  their 
Canadian  fathers.  He  enumerated  the  warriors  of  the  party ; 
their  several  merits ;  their  frequent  services  to  the  nation ; 
their  wounds,  and  the  number  of  the  scalps  they  had  taken. 
Whenever  he  alluded  to  any  present  (and  the  subtle  Indian 
neglected  none),  the  dark  countenance  of  the  flattered  indi- 
vidual gleamed  with  exultation,  nor  did  he  even  hesitate 
to  assert  the  truth  of  the  words,  by  gestures  of  applause  and 
confirmation.  Then  the  voice  of  the  speaker  fell,  and  lost 
the  loud,  animated  tones  of  triumph  with  which  he  had 
enumerated  their  deeds  of  success  and  victory.  He  de- 
scribed the  cataract  of  Glenn's;  the  impregnable  position 
of  its  rocky  island,  with  its  caverns,  and  its  numerous  rapids 
and  whirlpools;  he  named  the  name  of  "La  longue  Cara- 
bine," and  paused  until  the  forest  beneath  them  had  sent 
up  the  last  echo  of  a  loud  and  long  yell,  with  which  the 
hated  appellation  was  received.  He  pointed  toward  the 
youthful  military  captive,  and  described  the  death  of  a 
favorite  warrior,  who  had  been  precipitated  into  the  deep 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS.  133 

ravine  by  his  hand.  He  not  only  mentioned  the  fate  of  him 
who,  hanging  between  heaven  and  earth,  had  presented  such 
a  spectacle  of  horror  to  the  whole  band,  but  he  acted  anew 
the  terrors  of  his  situation,  his  resolution  and  his  death,  on 
the  branches  of  a  sapling;  and,  finally,  he  rapidly  recounted 
the  manner  in  which  each  of  their  friends  had  fallen,  never 
failing  to  touch  upon  their  courage  and  their  most  acknowl- 
edged virtues.  When  this  recital  of  events  was  ended,  his 
voice  once  more  changed,  and  became  plaintive,  and  even 
musical,  in  its  low  guttural  sounds.  He  now  spoke  of  the 
wives  and  children  of  the  slain;  their  destitution;  their 
misery,  both  physical  and  moral;  their  distance;  and,  at 
last,  of  their  unavenged  wrongs.  Then  suddenly  lifting 
his  voice  to  a  pitch  of  terrific  energy,  he  concluded  by  de- 
manding— 

"Are  the  Hurons  dogs  to  bear  this?  Who  shall  say  to 
the  wife  of  Menowgua  that  the  fishes  have  his  scalp,  and 
that  his  nation  have  not  taken  revenge !  Who  will  dare 
meet  the  mother  of  Wassawattimie,  that  scornful  woman, 
with  his  hands  clean!  What  shall  be  said  to  the  old  men 
when  they  ask  us  for  scalps,  and  we  have  not  a  hair  from  a 
white  head  to  give  them !  The  women  will  point  their 
fingers  at  us.  There  is  a  dark  spot  on  the  names  of  the 
Hurons,  and  it  must  be  hid  in  blood! " 

His  voice  was  no  longer  audible  in  the  burst  of  rage 
which  now  broke  into  the  air,  as  if  the  wood,  instead  of 
containing  so  small  a  band,  was  filled  with  the  nation.  Dur- 
ing the  foregoing  address  the  progress  of  the  speaker  was 
too  plainly  read  by  those  most  interested  in  his  success, 
through  the  medium  of  the  countenances  of  the  men  he  ad- 
dressed. They  had  answered  his  melancholy  and  mourning 
by  sympathy  and  sorrow ;  his  assertions,  by  gestures  of  con- 
firmation ;  and  his  boastings,  with  the  exultation  of  savages. 
When  he  spoke  of  courage,  their  looks  were  firm  and  re- 
sponsive; when  he  alluded  to  their  injuries,  their  eyes  kin- 
dled with  fury ;  when  he  mentioned  the  taunts  of  the  women, 


134  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

they  dropped  their  heads  in  shame;  but  when  he  pointed 
out  their  means  of  vengeance,  he  struck  a  chord  which  never 
failed  to  thrill  in  the  breast  of  an  Indian.  With  the  first 
intimation  that  it  was  within  their  reach,  the  whole  band 
sprang  upon  their  feet  as  one  man ;  giving  utterance  to  their 
rage  in  the  most  frantic  cries,  they  rushed  upon  their  pris- 
oners in  a  body  with  drawn  knives  and  uplifted  tomahawks. 
Heyward  threw  himself  between  the  sisters  and  the  foremost, 
whom  he  grappled  with  a  desperate  strength  that  for  a  mo- 
ment checked  his  violence.  This  unexpected  resistance 
gave  Magua  time  to  interpose,  and  with  rapid  enunciation 
and  animated  gesture,  he  drew  the  attention  of  the  band 
again  to  himself.  In  that  language  he  knew  so  well  how 
to  assume,  he  diverted  his  comrades  from  their  instant  pur- 
pose, and  invited  them  to  prolong  the  misery  of  their  vic- 
tims. His  proposal  was  received  with  acclamations,  and 
executed  with  the  swiftness  of  thought. 

Two  powerful  warriors  cast  themselves  on  Heyward,  while 
another  was  occupied  in  securing  the  less  active  singing- 
master.  Neither  of  the  captives,  however,  submitted  with- 
out a  desperate  though  fruitless  struggle.  Even  David 
hurled  his  assailant  to  the  earth;  nor  was  Heyward  secured 
until  the  victory  over  his  companion  enabled  the  Indians 
to  direct  their  united  force  to  that  object.  He  was  then 
bound  and  fastened  to  the  body  of  the  sapling,  on  whose 
branches  Magua  had  acted  the  pantomime  of  the  falling 
Huron.  When  the  young  soldier  regained  his  recollection, 
he  had  the  painful  certainty  before  his  eyes  that  a  common 
fate  was  intended  for  the  whole  party.  On  his  right  was 
Cora,  in  a  durance  similar  to  his  own,  pale  and  agitated, 
but  with  an  eye  whose  steady  look  still  read  the  proceed- 
ings of  their  enemies.  On  his  left,  the  withes  which  bound 
her  to  a  pine,  performed  that  office  for  Alice  which  her 
trembling  limbs  refused,  and  alone  kept  her  fragile  form 
from  sinking.  Her  hands  were  clasped  before  her  in  prayer, 
but  instead  of  looking  upward  toward  that  power  which 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  1 35 

alone  could  rescue  them,  her  unconscious  looks  wandered 
to  the  countenance  of  Duncan  with  infantile  dependency. 
David  had  contended,  and  the  novelty  of  the  circumstance 
held  him  silent,  in  deliberation  on  the  propriety  of  the 
unusual  occurrence. 

The  vengeance  of  the  Hurons  had  now  taken  a  new  direc- 
tion, and  they  prepared  to  execute  it  with  that  barbarous 
ingenuity  with  which  they  were  familiarized  by  the  practice 
of  centuries.  Some  sought  knots,  to  raise  the  blazing  pile; 
one  was  riving  the  splinters  of  pine,  in  order  to  pierce  the 
flesh  of  their  captives  with  the  burning  fragments;  and 
others  bent  the  tops  of  two  saplings  to  the  earth,  in  order 
to  suspend  Heyward  by  the  arms  between  the  recoiling 
branches.  But  the  vengeance  of  Magua  sought  a  deeper 
and  a  more  malignant  enjoyment. 

While  the  less  refined  monsters  of  the  band  prepared,  be- 
fore the  eyes  of  those  who  were  to  suffer,  these  well-known 
and  vulgar  means  of  torture,  he  approached  Cora,  and 
pointed  out,  with  the  most  malign  expression  of  counte- 
nance, the  speedy  fate  that  awaited  her- — 

"  Ha !  "  he  added,  "  what  says  the  daughter  of  Munro  ? 
Her  head  is  too  good  to  find  a  pillow  in  the  wigwam  of  Le 
Renard;  will  she  like  it  better  when  it  rolls  about  this  hill 
a  plaything  for  the  wolves?  Her  bosom  cannot  nurse  the 
children  of  a  Huron;  she  will  see  it  spit  upon  by  In- 
dians!" 

"What  means  the  monster?"  demanded  the  astonished 
Heyward. 

"  Nothing!  "  was  the  firm  reply.  "  He  is  a  savage,  a  bar- 
barous and  ignorant  savage,  and  knows  not  what  he  does. 
Let  us  find  leisure,  with  our  dying  breath,  to  ask  for  him 
penitence  and  pardon." 

"Pardon!"  echoed  the  fierce  Huron,  mistaking,  in  his 
anger,  the  meaning  of  her  words;  "the  memory  of  an  In- 
dian is  longer  than  the  arm  of  the  pale-faces;  his  mercy 
shorter  than  their  justice!     Say;  shall  I  send  the  yellow 


I36  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS- 

hair  to  her  father,  and  will  you  follow  Magua  to  the  great 
lakes,  to  carry  his  water,  and  feed  him  with  corn?  " 

Cora  beckoned  him  away,  with  an  emotion  of  disgust  she 
could  not  control. 

"  Leave  me,"  she  said,  with  a  solemnity  that  for  a  mo- 
ment checked  the  barbarity  of  the  Indian;  "you  mingle 
bitterness  in  my  prayers;  you  stand  between  me  and  my 
God!" 

The  slight  impression  produced  on  the  savage  was,  how- 
ever, soon  forgotten,  and  he  continued  pointing,  with  taunt- 
ing irony,  toward  Alice. 

"Look!  the  child  weeps!  She  is  young  to  die!  Send 
her  to  Munro,  to  comb  his  gray  hairs,  and  keep  life  in  the 
heart  of  the  old  man." 

Cora  could  not  resist  the  desire  to  look  upon  her  youth- 
ful sister,  in  whose  eyes  she  met  an  imploring  glance,  that 
betrayed  the  longings  of  nature. 

"What  says  he,  dearest  Cora?"  asked  the  trembling 
voice  of  Alice.  "  Did  he  speak  of  sending  me  to  our 
father?" 

For  many  moments  the  elder  sister  looked  upon  the 
younger,  with  a  countenance  that  wavered  with  powerful  and 
contending  emotions.  At  length  she  spoke,  though  her  tones 
had  lost  their  rich  and  calm  fulness,  in  an  expression  of 
tenderness  that  seemed  maternal. 

"Alice,"  she  said,  "the  Huron  offers  us  both  life — nay, 
more  than  both;  he  offers  to  restore  Duncan — our  invalu- 
able Duncan,  as  well  as  you,  to  our  friends — to  our  father — 
to  our  heart-stricken,  childless  father,  if  I  will  bow  down 
this  rebellious,  stubborn  pride  of  mine,  and  consent " 

Her  voice  became  choked,  and  clasping  her  hands,  she 
looked  upward,  as  if  seeking,  in  her  agony,  intelligence 
from  a  wisdom  that  was  infinite. 

"Say  on,"  cried  Alice;  "to  what,  dearest  Cora?  Oh! 
that  the  proffer  were  made  to  me !  to  save  you,  to  cheer  our 
aged  father!  to  restore  Duncan,  how  cheerfully  could  I  die!  " 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  1 37 

"  Die !  "  repeated  Cora,  with  a  calmer  and  a  firmer  voice, 
"that  were  easy!  Perhaps  the  alternative  may  not  be  less 
so.  He  would  have  me,"  she  continued,  her  accents  sink- 
ing under  a  deep  consciousness  of  the  degradation  of  the 
proposal,  "follow  him  to  the  wilderness;  go  to  the  habita- 
tions of  the  Hurons,  to  remain  there:  in  short,  to  become 
his  wife!  Speak,  then,  Alice,  child  of  my  affections!  sister 
of  my  love!  And  you,  too,  Major  Heyward,  aid  my  weak 
reason  with  your  counsel.  Is  life  to  be  purchased  by  such 
a  sacrifice?  Will  you,  Alice,  receive  it  at  my  hands  at  such 
a  price?  And  you,  Duncan ;  guide  me;  control  me  between 
you;  for  I  am  wholly  yours." 

"Would  I!"  echoed  the  indignant  and  astonished  youth. 
"Cora!  Cora!  you  jest  with  our  misery!  Name  not  the 
horrid  alternative  again ;  the  thought  itself  is  worse  than 
a  thousand  deaths." 

"  That  such  would  be  your  answer,  I  well  knew !  "  ex- 
claimed Cora,  her  cheeks  flushing,  and  her  dark  eyes  once 
more  sparkling  with  the  lingering  emotions  of  a  woman. 
"  What  says  my  Alice  ?  for  her  will  I  submit  without  another 
murmur." 

Although  both  Heyward  and  Cora  listened  with  painful 
suspense  and  the  deepest  attention,  no  sounds  were  heard 
in  reply.  It  appeared  as  if  the  delicate  and  sensitive  form 
of  Alice  would  shrink  into  itself,  as  she  listened  to  this  pro- 
posal. Her  arms  had  fallen  lengthwise  before  her,  the 
fingers  moving  in  slight  convulsions;  her  head  dropped 
upon  her  bosom,  and  her  whole  person  seemed  suspended 
against  the  tree,  looking  like  some  beautiful  emblem  of  the 
wounded  delicacy  of  her  sex,  devoid  of  animation,  and  yet 
keenly  conscious.  In  a  few  moments,  however,  her  head 
began  to  move  slowly,  in  a  sign  of  deep,  unconquerable 
disapprobation. 

"No,  no,  no;  better  that  we  die  as  we  have  lived,  to- 
gether !  " 

"Then  die!  "  shouted  Magua,  hurling  his  tomahawk  with 


I38  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

violence  at  the  unresisting  speaker,  and  gnashing  his  teeth 
with  a  rage  that  could  no  longer  be  bridled,  at  this  sudden 
exhibition  of  firmness  in  the  one  he  believed  the  weakest  of 
the  party.  The  axe  cleaved  the  air  in  front  of  Heyward,  and 
cutting  some  of  the  flowing  ringlets  of  Alice,  quivered  in 
the  tree  above  her  head.  The  sight  maddened  Duncan  to 
desperation.  Collecting  all  his  energies  in  one  effort,  he 
snapped  the  twigs  which  bound  him,  and  rushed  upon  an- 
other savage,  who  was  preparing,  with  loud  yells,  and  a 
more  deliberate  aim,  to  repeat  the  blow.  They  encountered, 
grappled,  and  fell  to  the  earth  together.  The  naked  body 
of  his  antagonist  afforded  Heyward  no  means  of  holding  his 
adversary,  who  glided  from  his  grasp,  and  rose  again  with 
one  knee  on  his  chest,  pressing  him  down  with  the  weight 
of  a  giant.  Duncan  already  saw  the  knife  gleaming  in  the 
air,  when  a  whistling  sound  swept  past  him,  and  was  rather 
accompanied,  than  followed,  by  the  sharp  crack  of  a  rifle. 
He  felt  his  breast  relieved  from  the  load  it  had  endured; 
he  saw  the  savage  expression  of  his  adversary's  countenance 
change  to  a  look  of  vacant  wildness,  when  the  Indian  fell 
dead  on  the  faded  leaves  by  his  side. 


CHAPTER    XII. 


"  Clo. — I  am  gone,  sir, 
And  anon,  sir, 
I'll  be  with  you  again." 

Twelfth  Night. 

The  Hurons  stood  aghast  at  this  sudden  visitation  of  death 
on  one  of  their  band.  But,  as  they  regarded  the  fatal  accu- 
racy of  an  aim  which  had  dared  to  immolate  an  enemy  at  so 
much  hazard  to  a  friend,  the  name  of  "  La  longue  Carabine  " 
burst  simultaneously  from  every  lip,  and  was  succeeded  by 
a  wild  and  a  sort  of  plaintive  howl.  The  cry  was  answered 
by  a  loud  shout  from  a  little  thicket,  where  the  incautious 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  1 39 

party  had  piled  their  arms ;  and,  at  the  next  moment,  Hawk- 
eye,  too  eager  to  load  the  rifle  he  had  regained,  was  seen 
advancing  upon  them,  brandishing  the  clubbed  weapon,  and 
cutting  the  air  with  wide  and  powerful  sweeps.  Bold  and 
rapid  as  was  the  progress  of  the  scout,  it  was  exceeded  by 
that  of  a  light  and  vigorous  form  which,  bounding  past  him, 
leaped,  with  incredible  activity  and  daring,  into  the  very 
centre  of  the  Hurons,  where  it  stood,  whirling  a  tomahawk, 
and  flourishing  a  glittering  knife,  with  fearful  menaces, 
in  front  of  Cora.  Quicker  than  the  thoughts  could  fol- 
low these  unexpected  and  audacious  movements,  an  image, 
armed  in  the  emblematic  panoply  of  death,  glided  before 
their  eyes,  and  assumed  a  threatening  attitude  at  the  other's 
side.  The  savage  tormentors  recoiled  before  these  war-like 
intruders,  and  uttered  as  they  appeared  in  such  quick  suc- 
cession the  often-repeated  and  peculiar  exclamation  of  sur- 
prise, followed  by  the  well-known  and  dreaded  appella- 
tions of — 

"  Le  Cerf  agile!     Le  gros  Serpent!  " 

But  the  wary  and  vigilant  leader  of  the  Hurons  was  not 
so  easily  disconcerted.  Casting  his  keen  eyes  around  the 
little  plain,  he  comprehended  the  nature  of  the  assault  at  a 
glance,  and  encouraging  his  followers  by  his  voice  as  well 
as  by  his  example,  he  unsheathed  his  long  and  dangerous 
knife,  and  rushed  with  a  loud  whoop  upon  the  expecting 
Chingachgook.  It  was  the  signal  for  a  general  combat. 
Neither  party  had  firearms,  and  the  contest  was  to  be  de- 
cided in  the  deadliest  manner;  hand  to  hand,  with  weapons 
of  offence,  and  none  of  defence. 

Uncas  answered  the  whoop,  and  leaping  on  an  enemy, 
with  a  single,  well-directed  blow  of  his  tomahawk,  cleft  him 
to  the  brain.  Heyward  tore  the  weapon  of  Magua  from  the 
sapling,  and  rushed  eagerly  toward  the  fray.  As  the  com- 
batants were  now  equal  in  number,  each  singled  an  oppo- 
nent from  the  adverse  band.  The  rush  and  blows  passed 
with  the  fury  of  a  whirlwind,  and  the  swiftness  of  lightning. 


I40  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

Hawk-eye  soon  got  another  enemy  within  reach  of  his  arm, 
and  with  one  sweep  of  his  formidable  weapon  he  beat  down 
the  slight  and  inartificial  defences  of  his  antagonist,  crush- 
ing him  to  the  earth  with  the  blow.  Heyward  ventured  to 
hurl  the  tomahawk  he  had  seized,  too  ardent  to  await  the 
moment  of  closing.  It  struck  the  Indian  he  had  selected 
on  the  forehead,  and  checked  for  an  instant  his  onward 
rush.  Encouraged  by  this  slight  advantage,  the  impetuous 
young  man  continued  his  onset,  and  sprang  upon  his  enemy 
with  naked  hands.  A  single  instant  was  sufficient  to  assure 
him  of  the  rashness  of  the  measure,  for  he  immediately 
found  himself  fully  engaged,  with  all  his  activity  and  cour- 
age, in  endeavoring  to  ward  the  desperate  thrusts  made  with 
the  knife  of  the  Huron.  Unable  longer  to  foil  an  enemy  so 
alert  and  vigilant,  he  threw  his  arms  about  him,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  pinning  the  limbs  of  the  other  to  his  side,  with 
an  iron  grasp,  but  one  that  was  far  too  exhausting  to  him- 
self to  continue  long.  In  this  extremity  he  heard  a  voice 
near  him  shouting — 

"  Extarminate  the  varlets!  no  quarter  to  an  accursed 
Mingo!" 

At  the  next  moment,  the  breech  of  Hawk-eye's  rifle  fell 
on  the  naked  head  of  his  adversary,  whose  muscles  appeared 
to  wither  under  the  shock,  as  he  sank  from  the  arms  of  Dun- 
can, flexible  and  motionless. 

When  Uncas  had  brained  his  first  antagonist,  he  turned, 
like  a  hungry  lion,  to  seek  another.  The  fifth  and  only 
Huron  disengaged  at  the  first  onset  had  paused  a  moment, 
and  then  seeing  that  all  around  him  were  employed  in  the 
deadly  strife,  he  had  sought,  with  hellish  vengeance,  to 
complete  the  baffled  work  of  revenge.  Raising  a  shout  of 
triumph,  he  sprang  toward  the  defenceless  Cora,  sending  his 
keen  axe  as  the  dreadful  precursor  of  his  approach.  The 
tomahawk  grazed  her  shoulder,  and  cutting  the  withes 
which  bound  her  to  the  tree,  left  the  maiden  at  liberty  to 
fly.     She  eluded  the  grasp  of  the  savage,  and  reckless  o£ 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  I4I 

her  own  safety,  threw  herself  on  the  bosom  of  Alice,  striv- 
ing, with  convulsed  and  ill-directed  fingers,  to  tear  asunder 
the  twigs  which  confined  the  person  of  her  sister.  Any 
other  than  a  monster  would  have  relented  at  such  an  act  of 
generous  devotion  to  the  best  and  purest  affection ;  but  the 
breast  of  the  Huron  was  a  stranger  to  sympathy.  Seizing 
Cora  by  the  rich  tresses  which  fell  in  confusion  about  her 
form,  he  tore  her  from  her  frantic  hold,  and  bowed  her  down 
with  brutal  violence  to  her  knees.  The  savage  drew  the 
flowing  curls  through  his  hand,  and  raising  them  on  high 
with  an  outstretched  arm,  he  passed  the  knife  around  the 
exquisitely  moulded  head  of  his  victim,  with  a  taunting  and 
exulting  laugh.  But  he  purchased  this  moment  of  fierce 
gratification  with  the  loss  of  the  fatal  opportunity.  It  was 
just  then  the  sight  caught  the  eye  of  Uncas.  Bounding  from 
his  footsteps,  he  appeared  for  an  instant  darting  through  the 
air,  and  descending  in  a  ball  he  fell  on  the  chest  of  his 
enemy,  driving  him  many  yards  from  the  spot,  headlong 
and  prostrate.  The  violence  of  the  exertion  cast  the  young 
Mohican  at  his  side.  They  arose  together,  fought,  and 
bled,  each  in  his  turn.  But  the  conflict  was  soon  decided; 
the  tomahawk  of  Heyward  and  the  rifle  of  Hawk-eye  de- 
scended on  the  skull  of  the  Huron,  at  the  same  moment  that 
the  knife  of  Uncas  reached  his  heart. 

The  battle  was  now  entirely  terminated,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  protracted  struggle  between  "  Le  Renard  Subtil  " 
and  "  Le  gros  Serpent."  Well  did  these  barbarous  warriors 
prove  that  they  deserved  those  significant  names  which  had 
been  bestowed  for  deeds  in  former  wars.  When  they  en- 
gaged, some  little  time  was  lost  in  eluding  the  quick  and 
vigorous  thrusts  which  had  been  aimed  at  their  lives.  Sud- 
denly darting  on  each  other,  they  closed,  and  came  to  the 
earth,  twisted  together  like  twining  serpents,  in  pliant  and 
subtle  folds.  At  the  moment  when  the  victors  found  them- 
selves unoccupied,  the  spot  where  these  experienced  and 
desperate  combatants  lay  could  only  be  distinguished  by  a 


•  42  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

cloud  of  dust  and  leaves  which  moved  from  the  centre  of 
the  little  plain  toward  its  boundary,  as  if  raised  by  the  pas- 
sage of  a  whirlwind.  Urged  by  the  different  motives  of  filial 
affection,  friendship,  and  gratitude,  Heyward  and  his  com- 
panions rushed  with  one  accord  to  the  place,  encircling  the 
little  canopy  of  dust  which  hung  above  the  warriors.  In 
vain  did  Uncas  dart  around  the  cloud,  with  a  wish  to  strike 
his  knife  into  the  heart  of  his  father's  foe;  the  threatening 
rifle  of  Hawk-eye  was  raised  and  suspended  in  vain,  while 
Duncan  endeavored  to  seize  the  limbs  of  the  Huron  with 
hands  that  appeared  to  have  lost  their  power.  Covered,  as 
they  were,  with  dust  and  blood,  the  swift  evolutions  of  the 
combatants  seemed  to  incorporate  their  bodies  into  one. 
The  death-like  looking  figure  of  the  Mohican,  and  the  dark 
form  of  the  Huron,  gleamed  before  their  eyes  in  such  quick 
and  confused  succession,  that  the  friends  of  the  former  knew 
not  where  nor  when  to  plant  the  succoring  blow.  It  is  true 
there  were  short  and  fleeting  moments,  when  the  fiery  eyes 
of  Magua  were  seen  glittering,  like  the  fabled  organs  of  the 
basilisk,  through  the  dusty  wreath  by  which  he  was  envel- 
oped, and  he  read  by  those  short  and  deadly  glances  the 
fate  of  the  combat  in  the  presence  of  his  enemies;  ere, 
however,  any  hostile  hand  could  descend  on  his  devoted 
head,  its  place  was  filled  by  the  scowling  visage  of  Chin- 
gachgook.  In  this  manner  the  scene  of  the  combat  was  re- 
moved from  the  centre  of  the  little  plain  to  its  verge.  The 
Mohican  now  found  an  opportunity  to  make  a  powerful 
thrust  with  his  knife ;  Magua  suddenly  relinquished  his 
grasp,  and  fell  backward  without  motion,  and  seemingly 
without  life.  His  adversary  leaped  on  his  feet,  making  the 
arches  of  the  forest  ring  with  the  sounds  of  triumph. 

"Well  done  for  the  Delawares!  victory  to  the  Mohican!  " 
cried  Hawk-eye,  once  more  elevating  the  butt  of  the  long 
and  fatal  rifle;  "a  finishing  blow  from  a  man  without  a 
cross  will  never  tell  against  his  honor,  nor  rob  him  of  his 
right  to  the  scalp." 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  1 43 

But,  at  the  very  moment  when  the  dangerous  weapon  was 
in  the  act  of  descending,  the  subtle  Huron  rolled  swiftly 
from  beneath  the  danger,  over  the  edge  of  the  precipice,  and 
falling  on  his  feet,  was  seen  leaping,  with  a  single  bound, 
into  the  centre  of  a  thicket  of  low  bushes,  which  clung  along 
its  sides.  The  Delawares,  who  had  believed  their  enemy 
dead,  uttered  their  exclamation  of  surprise,  and  were  follow- 
ing with  speed  and  clamor,  like  hounds  in  open  view  of  the 
deer,  when  a  shrill  and  peculiar  cry  from  the  scout  instantly 
changed  their  purpose,  and  recalled  them  to  the  summit  of 
the  hill. 

"'  'Twas  like  himself,"  cried  the  inveterate  forester,  whose 
prejudices  contributed  so  largely  to  veil  his  natural  sense 
of  justice  in  all  matters  which  concerned  the  Mingoes;  "a 
lying  and  deceitful  varlet  as  he  is.  An  honest  Delaware 
now,  being  fairly  vanquished,  would  have  lain  still,  and 
been  knocked  on  the  head,  but  these  knavish  Maquas  cling 
to  life  like  so  many  cats-o'-the-mountain.  Let  him  go — let 
him  go,  'tis  but  one  man,  and  he  without  rifle  or  bow,  many 
a  long  mile  from  his  French  commerades;  and,  like  a  rat- 
tler that  has  lost  his  fangs,  he  can  do  no  farther  mischief, 
until  such  time  as  he,  and  we  too,  may  leave  the  prints  of 
our  moccasins  over  a  long  reach  of  sandy  plain  See,  Un- 
cas,"  he  added,  in  Delaware,  "your  father  is  flaying  the 
scalps  already.  It  may  be  well  to  go  round  and  feel  the 
vagabonds  that  are  left,  or  we  may  have  another  of  them 
loping  through  the  woods,  and  screeching  like  a  jay  that 
has  been  winged." 

So  saying,  the  honest,  but  implacable  scout  made  the  cir- 
cuit of  the  dead,  into  whose  senseless  bosoms  he  thrust  his 
long  knife,  with  as  much  coolness  as  though  they  had  been 
so  many  brute  carcasses.  He  had,  however,  been  anticipated 
by  the  elder  Mohican,  who  had  already  torn  the  emblems  of 
victory  from  the  unresisting  heads  of  the  slain. 

But  Uncas,  denying  his  habits,  we  had  almost  said  his 
nature,  flew  with  instinctive  delicacy,  accompanied  by  Hey- 


T44         THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

ward,  to  the  assistance  of  the  females,  and  quickly  releas- 
ing Alice,  placed  her  in  the  arms  of  Cora.  We  shall  not 
attempt  to  describe  the  gratitude  to  the  Almighty  Disposer 
of  events  which  glowed  in  the  bosoms  of  the  sisters,  who 
were  thus  unexpectedly  restored  to  life  and  to  each  other. 
Their  thanksgivings  were  deep  and  silent,  the  offerings  of 
their  gentle  spirits,  burning  brightest  and  purest  on  the 
secret  altars  of  their  hearts,  and  their  renovated  and  more 
earthly  feelings  exhibiting  themselves  in  long  and  fervent 
though  speechless  caresses.  As  Alice  rose  from  her  knees, 
where  she  had  sunk  by  the  side  of  Cora,  she  threw  herself 
on  the  bosom  of  the  latter,  and  sobbed  aloud  the  name  of 
their  aged  father,  while  her  soft,  dove-like  eyes  sparkled 
with  the  rays  of  hope. 

"We  are  saved!  we  are  saved!"  she  murmured,  "to  re- 
turn to  the  arms  of  our  dear,  dear  father,  and  his  heart  will 
not  be  broken  with  grief.  And  you  too,  Cora,  my  sister; 
my  more  than  sister,  my  mother,  you  too  are  spared.  And 
Duncan,"  she  added,  looking  round  upon  the  youth  with  a 
smile  of  ineffable  innocence,  "  even  our  own  brave  and 
noble  Duncan  has  escaped  without  a  hurt." 

To  these  ardent  and  nearly  incoherent  words,  Cora  made 
no  other  answer  than  by  straining  the  youthful  speaker  to 
her  heart,  as  she  bent  over  her,  in  melting  tenderness.  The 
manhood  of  Heyward  felt  no  shame  in  dropping  tears  over 
this  spectacle  of  affectionate  rapture;  and  Uncas  stood, 
fresh  and  blood-stained  from  the  combat,  a  calm,  and,  ap- 
parently, an  unmoved  looker-on,  it  is  true,  but  with  eyes 
that  had  already  lost  their  fierceness,  and  were  beaming 
with  a  sympathy  that  elevated  him  far  above  the  intelli- 
gence, and  advanced  him  probably  centuries  before  the 
practices  of  his  nation. 

During  this  display  of  emotions  so  natural  in  their  situa- 
tion, Hawk-eye,  whose  vigilant  distrust  had  satisfied  itself 
that  the  Hurons,  who  disfigured  the  heavenly  scene,  no 
longer  possessed  the  power  to  interrupt  its  harmony,  ap- 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  I45 

proached  David,  and  liberated  him  from  the  bonds  he  had, 
until  that  moment,  endured  with  the  most  exemplary  pa- 
tience. 

"There,"  exclaimed  the  scout,  casting  the  last  withe  be- 
hind him,  "you  are  once  more  master  of  your  own  limbs, 
though  you  seem  not  to  use  them  with  much  greater  judg- 
ment than  that  in  which  they  were  first  fashioned.  If  advice 
from  one  who  is  not  older  than  yourself,  but  who,  having 
lived  most  of  his  time  in  the  wilderness,  may  be  said  to 
have  experience  beyond  his  years,  will  give  no  offence, 
you  are  welcome  to  my  thoughts;  and  these  are,  to  part 
with  the  little  tooting  instrument  in  your  jacket  to  the  first 
fool  you  meet  with,  and  buy  some  useful  we'pon  with  the 
money,  if  it  be  only  the  barrel  of  a  horseman's  pistol.  By 
industry  and  care,  you  might  thus  come  to  some  prefarment; 
for  by  this  time,  I  should  think,  your  eyes  would  plainly 
tell  you  that  a  carrion  crow  is  a  better  bird  than  a  mocking 
thresher.  The  one  will,  at  least,  remove  foul  sights  from 
before  the  face  of  man,  while  the  other  is  only  good  to  brew 
disturbances  in  the  woods,  by  cheating  the  ears  of  all  that 
hear  them." 

"  Arms  and  the  clarion  for  the  battle,  but  the  song  of 
thanksgiving  to  the  victory!"  answered  the  liberated  Da- 
vid. "  Friend,"  he  added,  thrusting  forth  his  lean,  delicate 
hand  toward  Hawk-eye,  in  kindness,  while  his  eyes  twin- 
kled and  grew  moist,  "  I  thank  thee  that  the  hairs  of  my 
head  still  grow  where  they  were  first  rooted  by  Providence; 
for,  though  those  of  other  men  may  be  more  glossy  and 
curling,  I  have  ever  found  mine  own  well  suited  to  the  brain 
they  shelter.  That  I  did  not  join  myself  to  the  battle,  was 
less  owing  to  disinclination,  than  to  the  bonds  of  the 
heathen.  Valiant  and  skilful  hast  thou  proved  thyself  in 
the  conflict,  and  I  hereby  thank  thee,  before  proceeding  to 
discharge  other  and  more  important  duties,  because  thou 
hast  proved  thyself  well  worthy  of  a  Christian's  praise." 

"  The  thing  is  but  a  trifle,  and  what  you  may  often  see,  if 
10 


I46  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

you  tarry  long  among  us,"  returned  the  scout,  a  good  deal 
softened  toward  the  man  of  song,  by  this  unequivocal  expres- 
sion of  gratitude.  "I  have  got  back  my  old  companion, 
4  kill-deer,'"  he  added,  striking  his  hand  on  the  breech  of 
his  rifle;  "and  that  in  itself  is  a  victory.  These  Iroquois 
are  cunning,  but  they  outwitted  themselves  when  they  placed 
their  firearms  out  of  reach;  and  had  Uncas  or  his  father 
been  gifted  with  only  their  common  Indian  patience,  we 
should  have  come  in  upon  the  knaves  with  three  bullets  in- 
stead of  one,  and  that  would  have  made  a  finish  of  the  whole 
pack;  yon  loping  varlet,  as  well  as  his  commerades.  But 
'twas  all  fore-ordered,  and  for  the  best." 

''Thou  sayest  well,"  returned  David,  "and  hast  caught 
the  true  spirit  of  Christianity.  He  that  is  to  be  saved  will 
be  saved,  and  he  that  is  predestined  to  be  damned  will  be 
damned.  This  is  the  doctrine  of  truth,  and  most  consoling 
and  refreshing  it  is  to  the  true  believer." 

The  scout,  who  by  this  time  was  seated,  examining  into 
the  state  of  his  rifle  with  a  species  of  parental  assiduity, 
now  looked  up  at  the  other  in  a  displeasure  that  he  did  not 
affect  to  conceal,  roughly  interrupting  further  speech. 

"  Doctrine  or  no  doctrine,"  said  the  sturdy  woodsman, 
"  'tis  the  belief  of  knaves,  and  the  curse  of  an  honest  man. 
I  can  credit  that  yonder  Huron  was  to  fall  by  my  hand,  for 
with  my  own  eyes  I  have  seen  it;  but  nothing  short  of 
being  a  witness  will  cause  me  to  think  he  has  met  with  any 
reward,  or  that  Chingachgook,  there,  will  be  condemned  at 
the  final  day." 

"  You  have  no  warranty  for  such  an  audacious  doctrine, 
nor  any  covenant  to  support  it,"  cried  David,  who  was 
deeply  tinctured  with  the  subtle  distinctions  which,  in  his 
time,  and  more  especially  in  his  province,  had  been  drawn 
around  the  beautiful  simplicity  of  revelation,  by  endeavor- 
ing to  penetrate  the  awful  mystery  of  the  divine  nature, 
supplying  faith  by  self-sufficiency,  and  by  consequence  in- 
volving those  who  reasoned  from  such  human  dogmas  in 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  I47 

absurdities  and  doubt ;  "  your  temple  is  reared  on  the  sands, 
and  the  first  tempest  will  wash  away  its  foundation.  I  de- 
mand your  authorities  for  such  an  uncharitable  assertion  " 
(like  other  advocates  of  a  system,  David  was  not  always 
accurate  in  his  use  of  terms).  "  Name  chapter  and  verse ;  in 
which  <~>f  the  holy  books  do  you  find  language  to  support  you  ? " 

"Book!"  repeated  Hawk-eye,  with  singular  and  ill-con- 
cealed disdain;  "do  you  take  me  for  a  whimpering  boy  at 
the  apron-string  of  one  of  your  old  gals;  and  this  good  rifle 
on  my  knee  for  the  feather  of  a  goose's  wing,  my  ox's  horn 
for  a  bottle  of  ink,  and  my  leathern  pouch  for  a  cross-barred 
handkercher  to  carry  my  dinner?  Book!  what  have  such  as 
I,  who  am  a  warrior  f  the  wilderness,  though  a  man  with- 
out a  cross,  to  do  with  books?  I  never  read  but  in  one,  and 
the  words  that  are  written  there  are  too  simple  and  too  plain 
to  need  much  schooling;  though  I  may  boast  that  of  forty 
long  and  hard-working  years." 

"What  call  you  the  volume?"  said  David,  misconceiv- 
ing the  other's  meaning. 

"  Tis  open  before  your  eyes,"  returned  the  scout;  "and 
he  who  owns  it  is  not  a  niggard  of  its  use.  I  have  heard 
it  said  that  there  are  men  who  read  in  books  to  convince 
themselves  there  is  a  God.  I  know  not  but  man  may  so  de- 
form his  works  in  the  settlements,  as  to  leave  that  which  is 
so  clear  in  the  wilderness  a  matter  of  doubt  among  traders 
and  priests.  If  any  such  there  be,  and  he  will  follow  me 
from  sun  to  sun,  through  the  windings  of  the  forest,  he  shall 
see  enough  to  teach  him  that  he  is  a  fool,  and  that  the 
greatest  of  his  folly  lies  in  striving  to  rise  to  the  level  of 
one  he  can  never  equal,  be  it  in  goodness,  or  be  it  in  power." 

The  instant  David  discovered  that  he  battled  with  a  dis- 
putant who  imbibed  his  faith  from  the  lights  of  nature,  es- 
chewing all  subtleties  of ,  doctrine,  he  willingly  abandoned 
a  controversy,  from  which  he  believed  neither  profit  nor 
credit  was  to  be  derived.  While  the  scout  was  speaking, 
he  had  also  seated  himself,  and  producing  the  ready  little 


I48  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

volume  and  the  iron-rimmed  spectacles,  he  prepared  to  dis- 
charge a  duty,  which  nothing  but  the  unexpected  assault  he 
had  received  in  his  orthodoxy  could  have  so  long  suspended. 
He  was,  in  truth,  a  minstrel  of  the  western  continent — of  a 
much  later  day,  certainly,  than  those  gifted  bards,  who  for- 
merly sang  the  profane  renown  of  baron  and  prince,  but  after 
the  spirit  of  his  own  age  and  country;  and  he  was  now  pre- 
pared to  exercise  the  cunning  of  his  craft,  in  celebration  of, 
or  rather  in  thanksgiving  for,  the  recent  victory.  He  waited 
patiently  for  Hawk-eye  to  cease,  then  lifting  his  eyes,  to- 
gether with  his  voice,  he  said,  aloud — 

"  I  invite  you,  friends,  to  join  in  praise  for  this  signal 
deliverance  from  the  hands  of  barbarians  and  infidels,  to 
the  comfortable  and  solemn  tones  of  the  tune,  called  '  North- 
ampton.' " 

He  next  named  the  page  and  verse  where  the  rhymes  se- 
lected were  to  be  found,  and  applied  the  pitch-pipe  to  his 
lips,  with  the  decent  gravity  that  he  had  been  wont  to  use 
in  the  temple.  This  time  he  was,  however,  without  any  ac- 
companiment, for  the  sisters  were  just  then  pouring  out  those 
tender  effusions  of  affection  which  have  been  already  alluded 
to.  Nothing  deterred  by  the  smallness  of  his  audience, 
which,  in  truth,  consisted  only  of  the  discontented  scout, 
he  raised  his  voice,  commencing  and  ending  the  sacred  song 
without  accident  or  interruption  of  any  kind. 

Hawk-eye  listened,  while  he  coolly  adjusted  his  flint  and 
reloaded  his  rifle;  but  the  sounds,  wanting  the  extraneous 
assistance  of  scene  and  sympathy,  failed  to  awaken  his 
slumbering  emotions.  Never  minstrel,  or  by  whatever  more 
suitable  name  David  should  be  known,  drew  upon  his  tal- 
ents in  the  presence  of  more  insensible  auditors;  though 
considering  the  singleness  and  sincerity  of  his  motive,  it  is 
probable  that  no  bard  of  profane  song  ever  uttered  notes 
that  ascended  so  near  to  that  throne  where  all  homage  and 
praise  is  due.  The  scout  shook  his  head,  and  muttering 
some   unintelligible   words,   among   which   "Throat"    and 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  1 49 

"  Iroquois  "  were  alone  audible,  he  walked  away,  to  collect, 
and  to  examine  into,  the  state  of  the  captured  arsenal  of  the 
Hurons.  In  this  office  he  was  now  joined  by  Chingach- 
gook,  who  found  his  own,  as  well  as  the  rifle  of  his  son, 
among  the  arms.  Even  Heyward  and  David  were  furnished 
with  weapons;  nor  was  ammunition  wanting  to  render  them 
all  effectual. 

When  the  foresters  had  made  their  selection,  and  distrib- 
uted their  prizes,  the  scout  announced  that  the  hour  had  ar- 
rived when  it  was  necessary  to  move.  By  this  time  the  song 
of  Gamut  had  ceased,  and  the  sisters  had  learned  to  still 
the  exhibition  of  their  emotions.  Aided  by  Duncan  and 
the  younger  Mohican,  the  two  latter  descended  the  precipi- 
tous sides  of  that  hill  which  they  had  so  lately  ascended 
under  so  very  different  auspices,  and  whose  summit  had  so 
nearly  proved  the  scene  of  their  massacre.  At  the  foot, 
they  found  the  Narragansets  browsing  the  herbage  of  the 
bushes;  and  having  mounted,  they  followed  the  movements 
of  a  guide,  who,  in  the  most  deadly  straits,  had  so  often 
proved  himself  their  friend.  The  journey  was,  however, 
short.  Hawk-eye,  leaving  the  blind  path  that  the  Hurons 
had  followed,  turned  short  to  his  right,  and  entering  the 
thicket,  he  crossed  a  babbling  brook,  and  halted  in  a  narrow 
dell,  under  the  shade  of  a  few  water-elms.  Their  distance 
from  the  base  of  the  fatal  hill  was  but  a  few  rods,  and  the 
steeds  had  been  serviceable  only  in  crossing  the  shallow 
stream. 

The  scout  and  the  Indians  appeared  to  be  familiar  with 
the  sequestered  place  where  they  now  were;  for,  leaning 
their  rifles  against  the  trees,  they  commenced  throwing  aside 
the  dried  leaves,  and  opening  the  blue  clay,  out  of  which  a 
clear  and  sparkling  spring  of  bright,  glancing  water  quickly 
bubbled.  The  white  man  then  looked  about  him,  as  though 
seeking  for  some  object,  which  was  not  to  be  found  as  read- 
ily as  he  expected — 

"Them  careless  imps,  the  Mohawks,  with  their  Tuscarora 


I5O  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

iiid  Onondaga  brethren,  have  been  here  slaking  their  thirst," 
he  muttered,  "  and  the  vagabonds  have  thrown  away  the 
gourd?  This  is  the  way  with  benefits,  when  they  are  be- 
stowed on  such  disremembering  hounds!  Here  has  the 
Lord  laid  his  hand,  in  the  midst  of  the  howling  wilderness, 
for  their  good,  and  raised  a  fountain  of  water  from  the  bow- 
els of  the  'arth,  that  might  laugh  at  the  richest  shop  of 
apothecary's  ware  in  all  the  colonies;  and  see!  the  knaves 
have  trodden  in  the  clay,  and  deformed  the  cleanliness  of 
the  place,  as  though  they  were  brute  beasts,  instead  of  hu- 
man men." 

Uncas  silently  extended  toward  him  the  desired  gourd, 
which  the  spleen  of  Hawk-eye  had  hitherto  prevented  him 
from  observing,  on  a  branch  of  an  elm.  Filling  it  with 
water,  he  retired  a  short  distance,  to  a  place  where  the 
ground  was  more  firm  and  dry,  here  he  coolly  seated  him- 
self, and  after  taking  a  long  and,  apparently,  a  grateful 
draught,  he  commenced  a  very  strict  examination  of  the 
fragments  of  food  left  by  the  Hurons,  which  had  hung  in  a 
wallet  on  his  arm. 

"Thank  you,  lad!"  he  continued,  returning  the  empty 
gourd  to  Uncas;  "now  we  will  see  how  these  rampaging 
Hurons  lived,  when  outlying  in  ambushments.  Look  at 
this!  The  varlets  know  the  better  pieces  of  the  deer;  and 
one  would  think  they  might  carve  and  roast  a  saddle,  equal 
to  the  best  cook  in  the  land!  But  everything  is  raw,  for  the 
Iroquois  are  thorough  savages.  Uncas,  take  my  steel,  and 
kindle  a  fire;  a  mouthful  of  a  tend  broil  will  give  natur' 
a  helping  hand,  aft  r  so  long  a  trail." 

Heyward,  perceiving  that  their  guides  now  set  about  their 
repast  in  sober  earnest,  assisted  the  ladies  to  alight,  and 
placed  himself  at  their  side,  not  unwilling  to  enjoy  a  few 
moments  of  grateful  rest,  after  the  bloody  scene  he  had  just 
gone  through.  While  the  culinary  process  was  in  hand, 
curiosity  induced  him  to  inquire  into  the  circumstances 
which  had  led  to  their  timely  and  unexpected  rescue — 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  I  5 1 

"  How  is  it  that  we  see  you  so  soon,  my  generous  friend," 
he  asked,  "and  without  aid  from  the  garrison  of  Edward?  " 

"  Had  we  gone  to  the  bend  in  the  river,  we  might  have 
been  in  time  to  rake  the  leaves  over  your  bodies,  but  too 
late  to  have  saved  your  scalps,"  coolly  answered  the  scout. 
"No,  no;  instead  of  throwing  away  strength  and  opportu- 
nity by  crossing  to  the  fort,  we  lay  by,  under  the  bank  of 
the  Hudson,  waiting  to  watch  the  movements  of  the  Hurons." 

"You  were,  then,  witnesses  of  all  that  passed?  " 

"  Not  of  all ;  for  Indian  sight  is  too  keen  to  be  easily 
cheated,  and  we  kept  close.  A  difficult  matter  it  was,  too, 
to  keep  this  Mohican  boy  snug  in  the  ambushment.  Ah! 
Uncas,  Uncas,  your  behavior  was  more  like  that  of  a  curi- 
ous woman  than  of  a  warrior  on  his  scent." 

Uncas  permitted  his  eyes  to  turn  for  an  instant  on  the 
sturdy  countenance  of  the  speaker,  but  he  neither  spoke  nor 
gave  any  indication  of  repentance.  On  the  contrary,  Hey- 
ward  thought  the  manner  of  the  young  Mohican  was  disdain- 
ful, if  not  a  little  fierce,  and  that  he  suppressed  passions 
that  were  ready  to  explode,  as  much  in  compliment  to  the 
listeners,  as  from  the  deference  he  usually  paid  to  his  white 
associate. 

"  You  saw  our  capture?  "  Hey  ward  next  demanded. 

"We  heard  it,"  was  the  significant  answer.  "An  Indian 
yell  is  plain  language  to  men  who  have  passed  their  days 
in  the  woods.  But  when  you  landed,  we  were  driven  to 
crawl,  like  sarpents,  beneath  the  leaves;  and  then  we  lost 
sight  of  you  entirely,  until  we  placed  eyes  on  you  again, 
trussed  to  the  trees,  and  ready  bound  for  an  Indian  mas- 
sacre." 

"  Our  rescue  was  the  deed  of  Providence.  It  was  nearly 
a  miracle  that  you  did  not  mistake  the  path,  for  the  Hurons 
divided,  and  each  band  had  its  horses." 

"Aye!  there  we  were  thrown  off  the  scent,  and  might,  in- 
deed, have  lost  the  trail,  had  it  not  been  for  Uncas ;  we  took 
the  path,  however,  that   led  into  the  wilderness;    for  we 


152  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

judged,  and  judged  rightly,  that  the  savages  would  hold  that 
course  with  their  prisoners.  But  when  we  had  followed  it 
for  many  miles,  without  finding  a  single  twig  broken,  as  I 
had  advised,  my  mind  misgave  me;  especially  as  all  the 
footsteps  had  the  prints  of  moccasins." 

"  Our  captors  had  the  precaution  to  see  us  shod  like 
themselves,"  said  Duncan,  raising  a  foot,  and  exhibiting  the 
buckskin  he  wore. 

"  Aye !  'twas  judgmatical,  and  like  themselves :  though  we 
were  too  expart  to  be  thrown  from  a  trail  by  so  common  an 
invention." 

"To  what,  then,  are  we  indebted  for  our  safety?  " 

"  To  what,  as  a  white  man  who  has  no  taint  of  Indian 
blood,  I  should  be  ashamed  to  own ;  to  the  judgment  of 
the  young  Mohican,  in  matters  which  I  should  know  better 
than  he,  but  which  I  can  now  hardly  believe  to  be  true, 
though  my  own  eyes  tell  me  it  is  so." 

"  'Tis  extraordinary !     Will  you  not  name  the  reason  ?  " 

"  Uncas  was  bold  enough  to  say,  that  the  beasts  ridden 
by  the  gentle  ones,"  continued  Hawk-eye,  glancing  his  eyes, 
not  without  curious  interest,  on  the  fillies  of  the  ladies, 
"  planted  the  legs  of  one  side  on  the  ground  at  the  same 
time,  which  is  contrary  to  the  movements  of  all  trotting 
four-footed  animals  of  my  knowledge,  except  the  bear. 
And  yet  here  are  horses  that  always  journey  in  this  manner, 
as  my  own  eyes  have  seen,  and  as  their  trail  has  shown  for 
twenty  long  miles." 

"'Tis  the  merit  of  the  animal!  They  come  from  the 
shores  of  Narraganset  Bay,  in  the  small  province  of  Provi- 
dence Plantations,  and  are  celebrated  for  their  hardihood, 
and  the  ease  of  this  peculiar  movement;  though  other  horses 
are  not  unfrequently  trained  to  the  same." 

"  It  may  be — it  may  be,"  said  Hawk-eye,  who  had  lis- 
tened with  singular  attention  to  this  explanation;  "though 
I  am  a  man  who  has  the  full  blood  of  the  whites,  my  judg- 
ment in  deer  and  beaver  is  greater  than  in  beasts  of  burden. 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  1 53 

Major  Effingham  has  many  noble  chargers,  but  I  have  never 
seen  one  travel  after  such  a  sideling  gait." 

"True;  for  he  would  value  the  animals  for  very  different 
properties.  Still  is  this  a  breed  highly  esteemed,  and,  as 
you  witness,  much  honored  with  the  burdens  it  is  often  des- 
tined to  bear." 

The  Mohicans  had  suspended  their  operations  about  the 
glimmering  fire,  to  listen  ;  and  when  Duncan  had  done,  they 
looked  at  each  other  significantly,  the  father  uttering  the 
never-failing  exclamation  of  surprise.  The  scout  rumi- 
nated, like  a  man  digesting  his  newly  acquired  knowledge, 
and  once  more  stole  a  curious  glance  at  the  horses. 

"  I  dare  to  say  there  are  even  stranger  sights  to  be  seen 
in  the  settlements!"  he  said,  at  length;  "natur'is  sadly 
abused  by  man,  when  he  once  gets  the  mastery.  But,  go 
sideling  or  go  straight,  Uncas  had  seen  the  movement,  and 
their  trail  led  us  on  to  the  broken  bush.  The  outer  branch, 
near  the  prints  of  one  of  the  horses,  was  bent  upward,  as  a 
lady  breaks  a  flower  from  its  stem,  but  all  the  rest  were 
ragged  and  broken  down,  as  if  the  strong  hand  of  a  man  had 
been  tearing  them!  So  I  concluded,  that  the  cunning  var- 
ments had  seen  the  twig  bent,  and  had  torn  the  rest,  to  make 
us  believe  a  buck  had  been  feeling  the  boughs  with  his 
antlers." 

"I  do  believe  your  sagacity  did  not  deceive  you;  for 
some  such  thing  occurred !  " 

"  That  was  easy  to  see,"  added  the  scout,  in  no  degree 
conscious  of  having  exhibited  any  extraordinary  sagacity; 
"  and  a  very  different  matter  it  was  from  a  waddling  horse ! 
It  then  struck  me  the  Mingoes  would  push  for  this  spring, 
for  the  knaves  well  know  the  vartue  of  its  waters!  " 

"Is  it,  then,  so  famous?"  demanded  Heyward,  examin- 
ing, with  a  more  curious  eye,  the  secluded  dell,  with  its  bub- 
bling fountain,  surrounded,  as  it  was,  by  earth  of  a  deep 
dingy  brown. 

"  Few  red-skins,  who  travel  south  and  east  of  the  great 


154  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

lakes,  but  have  heard  of  its  qualities.  Will  you  taste  for 
yourself  ?  " 

Hey  ward  took  the  gourd,  and  after  swallowing  a  little  of 
the  water,  threw  it  aside  with  grimaces  of  discontent.  The 
scout  laughed  in  his  silent,  but  heartfelt  manner,  and  shook 
his  head  with  vast  satisfaction. 

"Ah!  you  want  the  flavor  that  one  gets  by  habit;  the 
time  was  when  I  liked  it  as  little  as  yourself;  but  I  have 
come  to  my  taste,  and  I  now  crave  it,  as  a  deer  does  the 
licks. *  Your  high-spiced  wines  are  not  better  liked  than  a 
red-skin  relishes  this  water;  especially  when  his  natur'  is 
ailing.  But  Uncas  has  made  his  fire,  and  it  is  time  we 
think  of  eating,  for  our  journey  is  long,  and  all  before  us." 

Interrupting  the  dialogue  by  this  abrupt  transition,  the 
scout  had  instant  recourse  to  the  fragments  of  food  which 
had  escaped  the  voracity  of  the  Hurons.  A  very  summary 
process  completed  the  simple  cookery,  when  he  and  the 
Mohicans  commenced  their  humble  meal,  with  the  silence 
and  characteristic  diligence  of  men  who  ate  in  order  to 
enable  themselves  to  endure  great  and  unremitting  toil. 

When  this  necessary,  and,  happily,  grateful  duty  had 
been  performed,  each  of  the  foresters  stooped  and  took  a 
long  and  parting  draught,  at  that  solitary  and  silent  spring,  f 
around  which  and  its  sister  fountains,  within  fifty  years,  the 
wealth,  beauty,  and  talents  of  a  hemisphere  were  to  assem- 
ble in  throngs,  in  pursuit  of  health  and  pleasure.  Then 
Hawk-eye  announced  his  determination  to  proceed.  The 
sisters  resumed  their  saddles;  Duncan  and  David  grasped 
their  rifles,  and  followed  on  their  footsteps;  the  scout  lead- 
ing the  advance,  and  the  Mohicans  bringing  up  the  rear. 
The  whole  party  moved  swiftly  through  the  narrow  path, 

*  Many  of  the  animals  of  the  American  forests  resort  to  those  spots  where  salt  springs 
are  found.  These  are  called  "licks  "  or  "salt  licks,"  in  the  language  of  the  country, 
from  the  circumstance  that  the  quadruped  is  often  obliged  to  lick  the  earth,  in  order 
to  obtain  the  saline  particles.  These  licks  are  great  places  of  resort  with  the  hunters, 
who  waylay  their  game  near  the  paths  that  lead  to  them. 

+  The  scene  of  the  foregoing  incidents  is  on  the  spot  where  the  village  of  Ballston 
now  stands  ;  one  of  the  two  principal  watering  places  of  America. 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  1 55 

toward  the  north,  leaving  the  healing  waters  to  mingle 
unheeded  with  the  adjacent  brook,  and  the  bodies  of  the 
dead  to  fester  on  the  neighboring  mount,  without  the  rites 
of  sepulture ;  a  fate  but  too  common  to  the  warriors  of  the 
woods,  to  excite  either  commiseration  or  comment. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

I'll  seek  a  readier  path." 

Parnell. 


The  route  taken  by  Hawk-eye  lay  across  those  sandy 
plains,  relieved  by  occasional  valleys  and  swells  of  land, 
which  had  been  traversed  by  their  party  on  the  morning  of 
the  same  day,  with  the  baffled  Magua  for  their  guide.  The 
sun  had  now  fallen  low  toward  the  distant  mountains;  and 
as  their  journey  lay  through  the  interminable  forest,  the 
heat  was  no  longer  oppressive.  Their  progress,  in  conse- 
quence, was  proportionate;  and  long  before  the  twilight 
gathered  about  them,  they  had  made  good  many  toilsome 
miles  on  their  return. 

The  hunter,  like  the  savage  whose  place  he  filled,  seemed 
to  select  among  the  blind  signs  of  their  wild  route,  with  3 
species  of  instinct,  seldom  abating  his  speed,  and  never 
pausing  to  deliberate.  A  rapid  and  oblique  glance  at  the 
moss  on  the  trees,  with  an  occasional  upward  gaze  toward 
the  setting  sun,  or  a  steady  but  passing  look  at  the  direc- 
tion of  the  numerous  watercourses,  through  which  he 
waded,  were  sufficient  to  determine  his  path,  and  remove 
his  greatest  difficulties.  In  the  mean  time,  the  forest  began 
to  change  its  hues,  losing  that  lively  green  which  had  em- 
bellished its  arches,  in  the  graver  light  which  is  the  usual 
precursor  of  the  close  of  day. 

While  the  eyes  of  the  sisters  were  endeavoring  to  catch 
glimpses  through  the  trees  of  the  flood  of  golden  glory 
which  formed  a  glittering  halo  around  the  sun,  tingeing  here 


I56  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

and  there  with  ruby  streaks,  or  bordering  with  narrow  edg- 
ings of  shining  yellow,  a  mass  of  clouds  that  lay  piled  at 
no  great  distance  above  the  western  hills,  Hawk-eye  turned 
suddenly,  and  pointing  upward  toward  the  gorgeous  heav 
ens,  he  spoke — 

"Yonder  is  the  signal  given  to  man  to  seek  his  food  and 
natural  rest,"  he  said;  "better  and  wiser  would  it  be,  if  he 
could  understand  the  signs  of  nature,  and  take  a  lesson 
from  the  fowls  of  the  air,  and  the  beasts  of  the  fields!  Our 
night,  however,  will  soon  be  over;  for,  with  the  moon,  we 
must  be  up  and  moving  again.  I  remember  to  have  fou't 
the  Maquas,  hereaways,  in  the  first  war  in  which  I  ever 
drew  blood  from  man ;  and  we  threw  up  a  work  of  blocks, 
to  keep  the  ravenous  varments  from  handling  our  scalps. 
If  my  marks  do  not  fail  me,  we  shall  find  the  place  a  few 
rods  further  to  our  left." 

Without  waiting  for  an  assent,  or,  indeed,  for  any  reply, 
the  sturdy  hunter  moved  boldly  into  a  dense  thicket  of 
young  chestnuts,  shoving  aside  the  branches  of  the  exuber- 
ant shoots  which  nearly  covered  the  ground,  like  a  man  who 
expected,  at  each  step,  to  discover  some  object  he  had 
formerly  known.  The  recollection  of  the  scout  did  not 
deceive  him.  After  penetrating  through  the  brush,  matted 
as  it  was  with  briers,  for  a  few  hundred  feet,  he  entered  an 
open  space,  that  surrounded  a  low,  green  hillock,  which 
was  crowned  by  the  decayed  block-house  in  question.  This 
rude  and  neglected  building  was  one  of  those  deserted 
works,  which,  having  been  thrown  up  on  an  emergency, 
had  been  abandoned  with  the  disappearance  of  danger, 
and  was  now  quietly  crumbling  in  the  solitude  of  the  for- 
est, neglected,  and  nearly  forgotten,  like  the  circumstances 
which  had  caused  it  to  be  reared.  Such  memorials  of  the 
passage  and  struggles  of  man  are  yet  frequent  throughout 
the  broad  barrier  of  wilderness  which  once  separated  the 
hostile  provinces,  and  form  a  species  of  ruins  that  are  inti- 
mately associated  with  the  recollections  of  colonial  history, 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  1 57 

and  which  are  in  appropriate  keeping  with  the  gloomy  char- 
acter of  the  surrounding  scenery.*  The  roof  of  bark  had 
long  since  fallen,  and  mingled  with  the  soil ;  but  the  huge 
logs  of  pine,  which  had  been  hastily  thrown  together,  still 
preserved  their  relative  positions,  though  one  angle  of  the 
work  had  given  way  under  the  pressure,  and  threatened  a 
speedy  downfall  to  the  remainder  of  the  rustic  edifice. 
While  Heyward  and  his  companions  hesitated  to  approach 
a  building  so  decayed,  Hawk-eye  and  the  Indians  entered 
within  the  low  walls,  not  only  without  fear,  but  with  obvious 
interest.  While  the  former  surveyed  the  ruins,  both  inter- 
nally and  externally,  with  the  curiosity  of  one  whose  recol- 
lections were  reviving  at  each  moment,  Chingachgook  re- 
lated to  his  son,  in  the  language  of  the  Delawares,  and  with 
the  pride  of  a  conqueror,  the  brief  history  of  the  skirmish 
which  had  been  fought,  in  his  youth,  in  that  secluded  spot. 
A  strain  of  melancholy,  however,  blended  with  his  triumph, 
rendering  his  voice,  as  usual,  soft  and  musical. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  sisters  gladly  dismounted,  and  pre- 
pared to  enjoy  their  halt  in  the  coolness  of  the  evening,  and 
in  a  security  which  they  believed  nothing  but  the  beasts  of 
the  forest  could  invade. 

"  Would  not  our  resting-place  have  been  more  retired,  my 
worthy  friend,"  demanded  the  more  vigilant  Duncan,  per- 
ceiving that  the  scout  had  already  finished  his  short  survey, 
"  had  we  chosen  a  spot  less  known,  and  one  more  rarely 
visited  than  this?  " 

*  Some  years  since,  the  writer  was  shooting  in  the  vicinity  of  the  ruins  of  Fort  Os- 
wego, which  stands  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Ontario.  His  game  was  deer,  and  his  chase 
a  forest  that  stretched,  with  little  interruption,  fifty  miles  inland.  Unexpectedly  he 
came  upon  six  or  eight  ladders  lying  in  the  woods  within  a  short  distance  of  each 
other.  They  were  rudely  made  and  much  decayed.  Wondering  what  could  have 
assembled  so  many  of  these  instruments  in  such  a  place,  he  sought  an  old  man  who 
resided  neai  for  the  explanation. 

During  the  War  of  1776  Fort  Oswego  was  held  by  the  British.  An  expedition  had 
been  sent  two  hundred  miles  through  the  wilderness  to  surprise  the  fort.  It  appears 
that  the  Americans,  on  reaching  the  spot  named,  which  was  within  a  mile  or  two  of 
the  fort,  first  learned  that  they  were  expected,  and  in  great  danger  of  being  cut  off. 
They  threw  away  their  scaling-ladders,  and  made  a  rapid  retreat.  These  ladders  had 
lain  unmolested  thirty  years,  in  the  spot  where  they  had  thus  been  cast. 


I58  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

"  Few  live  who  know  the  block-house  was  ever  raised," 
was  the  slow  and  musing  answer;  "  'tis  not  often  that  books 
are  made,  and  narratives  written,  of  such  a  skrimmage  as 
was  here  fou't  atween  the  Mohicans  and  the  Mohawks,  in  a 
war  of  their  own  waging.  I  was  then  a  younker,  and  went 
out  with  the  Delawares,  because  I  know'd  they  were  a  scan- 
dalized and  wronged  race.  Forty  days  and  forty  nights 
did  the  imps  crave  our  blood  around  this  pile  of  logs,  which 
I  designed  and  partly  reared,  being,  as  you'll  remember,  no 
Indian  myself,  but  a  man  without  a  cross.  The  Delawares 
lent  themselves  to  the  work,  and  we  made  it  good,  ten  to 
twenty,  until  our  numbers  were  nearly  equal,  and  then  we 
sallied  out  upon  the  hounds,  and  not  a  man  of  them  ever 
got  back  to  tell  the  fate  of  his  party.  Yes,  yes;  I  was 
then  young,  and  new  to  the  sight  of  blood;  and  not  relish- 
ing the  thought  that  creatures  who  had  spirits  like  myself 
should  lay  on  the  naked  ground,  to  be  torn  asunder  by 
beasts,  or  to  bleach  in  the  rains,  I  buried  the  dead  with  my 
own  hands,  under  that  very  little  hillock  where  you  have 
placed  yourselves;  and  no  bad  seat  does  it  make  neither, 
though  it  be  raised  by  the  bones  of  mortal  men." 

Heyward  and  the  sisters  arose,  on  the  instant,  from  the 
grassy  sepulchre;  nor  could  vhe  two  latter,  notwithstanding 
the  terrific  scenes  they  had  so  recently  passed  through,  en- 
tirely suppress  an  emotion  of  natural  horror,  when  they 
found  themselves  in  such  familiar  contact  with  the  grave  of 
the  dead  Mohawks.  The  gray  light,  the  gloomy  little  area 
of  dark  grass,  surrounded  by  its  border  of  brush,  beyond 
which  the  pines  rose,  in  breathing  silence,  apparently,  into 
the  very  clouds,  and  the  deathlike  stillness  of  the  vast 
forest,  were  all  in  unison  to  deepen  such  a  sensation. 

"They  are  gone,  and  they  are  harmless,"  continued 
Hawk-eye,  waving  his  hand,  with  a  melancholy  smile,  at 
their  manifest  alarm:  "they'll  never  shout  the  war-whoop 
nor  strike  a  blow  with  the  tomahawk  again !  And  of  all 
those  who  aided  in  placing  them  where  they  lie,  Chingach 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  1 59 

gook  and  I  only  are  living.  The  brothers  and  family  of 
the  Mohican  formed  our  war-party ;  and  you  see  before  you 
all  that  are  now  left  of  his  race." 

The  eyes  of  the  listeners  involuntarily  sought  the  forms 
of  the  Indians,  with  a  compassionate  interest  in  their  deso- 
late fortune.  Their  dark  persons  were  still  to  be  seen 
within  the  shadows  of  the  block-house,  the  son  listening 
to  the  relation  of  his  father  with  that  sort  of  intenseness 
which  would  be  created  by  a  narrative  that  redounded  so 
much  to  the  honor  of  those  whose  names  he  had  long  revered 
for  their  courage  and  savage  virtues. 

"  I  had  thought  the  Delawares  a  pacific  people,"  said 
Duncan,  "  and  that  they  never  waged  war  in  person ;  trust- 
ing the  defence  of  their  lands  to  those  very  Mohawks  that 
you  slew!  " 

"  'Tis  true  in  part,"  returned  the  scout,  "  and  yet,  at  the 
bottom,  'tis  a  wicked  lie.  Such  a  treaty  was  made  in  ages 
gone  by,  through  the  deviltries  of  the  Dutchers,  who  wished 
to  disarm  the  natives  that  had  the  best  right  to  the  country, 
where  they  had  settled  themselves,  The  Mohicans,  though 
a  part  of  the  same  nation,  having  to  deal  with  the  English, 
never  entered  into  the  silly  bargain,  but  kept  to  their  man- 
hood, as  in  truth  did  the  Delawares,  when  their  eyes  were 
opened  to  their  folly.  You  see  before  you  a  chief  of  the 
great  Mohican  Sagamores!  Once  his  family  could  chase 
their  deer  over  tracts  of  country  wider  than  that  which 
belongs  to  the  Albany  Patteroon,  without  crossing  brook  or 
hill  that  was  not  their  own;  but  what  is  left  to  their  de- 
scendant! He  may  find  his  six  feet  of  earth  when  God 
chooses,  and  keep  it  in  peace,  perhaps,  if  he  has  a  friend 
who  will  take  the  pains  to  sink  his  head  so  low,  that  the 
ploughshares  cannot  reach  it!  " 

"  Enough !  "  said  Heyward,  apprehensive  that  the  subject 
might  lead  to  a  discussion  that  would  interrupt  the  harmony 
so  necessary  to  the  preservation  of  his  fair  companions: 
"  we  have  journeyed  far,  and  few  among  us  are  blessed  with 


l6o  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

forms  like  that  of  yours,  which  seems  to  know  neither 
fatigue  nor  weakness." 

"  The  sinews  and  bones  of  a  man  carry  me  through  it 
all,"  said  the  hunter,  surveying  his  muscular  limbs  with  a 
simplicity  that  betrayed  the  honest  pleasure  the  compliment 
afforded  him :  "  there  are  larger  and  heavier  men  to  be  found 
in  the  settlements,  but  you  might  travel  many  days  in  a  city 
before  you  could  meet  one  able  to  walk  fifty  miles  without 
stopping  to  take  breath,  or  who  has  kept  the  hounds  within 
hearing  during  a  chase  of  hours.  However,  as  flesh  and 
blood  are  not  always  the  same,  it  is  quite  reasonable  to  sup- 
pose that  the  gentle  ones  are  willing  to  rest,  after  all  they 
have  seen  and  done  this  day.  Uncas,  clear  out  the  spring, 
while  your  father  and  I  make  a  cover  for  their  tender  heads 
of  these  chestnut  shoots,  and  a  bed  of  grass  and  leaves." 

The  dialogue  ceased,  while  the  hunter  and  his  compan- 
ions busied  themselves  in  preparations  for  the  comfort  and 
protection  of  those  they  guided.  A  spring,  which  many 
long  years  before  had  induced  the  natives  to  select  the 
place  for  their  temporary  fortification,  was  soon  cleared  of 
leaves,  and  a  fountain  of  crystal  gushed  from  the  bed, 
diffusing  its  waters  over  the  verdant  hillock.  A  corner  of 
the  building  was  then  roofed  in  such  a  manner  as  to  ex- 
clude the  heavy  dew  of  the  climate,  and  piles  of  sweet 
shrubs  and  dried  leaves  were  laid  beneath  it  for  the  sisters 
to  repose  on. 

While  the  diligent  woodsmen  were  employed  in  this  man- 
ner, Cora  and  Alice  partook  of  that  refreshment  which  duty 
required  much  more  than  inclination  prompted  them  to  ac- 
cept. They  then  retired  within  the  walls,  and  first  offering 
up  their  thanksgivings  for  past  mercies,  and  petitioning  for 
a  continuance  of  the  Divine  favor  throughout  the  coming 
night,  they  laid  their  tender  forms  on  the  fragrant  couch, 
and  in  spite  of  recollections  and  forebodings,  soon  sank 
into  those  slumbers  which  nature  so  imperiously  demanded, 
and  which  were  sweetened  by  hopes  for  the  morrow.     Dun- 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  1 59 

gook  and  I  only  are  living.  The  brothers  and  family  of 
the  Mohican  formed  our  war-party ;  and  you  see  before  you 
all  that  are  now  left  of  his  race." 

The  eyes  of  the  listeners  involuntarily  sought  the  forms 
of  the  Indians,  with  a  compassionate  interest  in  their  deso- 
late fortune.  Their  dark  persons  were  still  to  be  seen 
within  the  shadows  of  the  block-house,  the  son  listening 
to  the  relation  of  his  father  with  that  sort  of  intenseness 
which  would  be  created  by  a  narrative  that  redounded  so 
much  to  the  honor  of  those  whose  names  he  had  long  revered 
for  their  courage  and  savage  virtues. 

"  I  had  thought  the  Delawares  a  pacific  people,"  said 
Duncan,  "  and  that  they  never  waged  war  in  person;  trust- 
ing the  defence  of  their  lands  to  those  very  Mohawks  that 
you  slew!  " 

"  'Tis  true  in  part,"  returned  the  scout,  "  and  yet,  at  the 
bottom,  'tis  a  wicked  lie.  Such  a  treaty  was  made  in  ages 
gone  by,  through  the  deviltries  of  the  Dutchers,  who  wished 
to  disarm  the  natives  that  had  the  best  right  to  the  country, 
where  they  had  settled  themselves.  The  Mohicans,  though 
a  part  of  the  same  nation,  having  to  deal  with  the  English, 
never  entered  into  the  silly  bargain,  but  kept  to  their  man- 
hood ,  as  in  truth  did  the  Delawares,  when  their  eyes  were 
opened  to  their  folly.  You  see  before  you  a  chief  of  the 
great  Mohican  Sagamores!  Once  his  family  could  chase 
their  deer  over  tracts  of  country  wider  than  that  which 
belongs  to  the  Albany  Patteroon,  without  crossing  brook  or 
hill  that  was  not  their  own;  but  what  is  left  to  their  de- 
scendant! He  may  find  his  six  feet  of  earth  when  God 
chooses,  and  keep  it  in  peace,  perhaps,  if  he  has  a  friend 
who  will  take  the  pains  to  sink  his  head  so  low,  that  the 
ploughshares  cannot  reach  it !  " 

"  Enough !  "  said  Heyward,  apprehensive  that  the  subject 
might  lead  to  a  discussion  that  would  interrupt  the  harmony 
so  necessary  to  the  preservation  of  his  fair  companions: 
"  we  have  journeyed  far,  and  few  among  us  are  blessed  with 


l60  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

forms  like  that  of  yours,  which  seems  to  know  neither 
fatigue  nor  weakness." 

"The  sinews  and  bones  of  a  man  carry  me  through  it 
all,"  said  the  hunter,  surveying  his  muscular  limbs  with  a 
simplicity  that  betrayed  the  honest  pleasure  the  compliment 
afforded  him :  ';  there  are  larger  and  heavier  men  to  be  found 
in  the  settlements,  but  you  might  travel  many  dar,s  in  a  city 
before  you  could  meet  one  able  to  walk  fifty  miles  without 
stopping  to  take  breath,  or  who  has  kept  the  hounds  within 
hearing  during  a  chase  of  hours.  However,  as  flesh  and 
blood  are  not  always  the  same,  it  is  quite  reasonable  to  sup- 
pose that  the  gentle  ones  are  willing  to  rest,  after  all  they 
have  seen  and  done  this  day.  Uncas,  clear  out  the  spring, 
while  your  father  and  I  make  a  cover  for  their  tender  heads 
of  these  chestnut  shoots,  and  a  bed  of  grass  and  leaves." 

The  dialogue  ceased,  while  the  hunter  and  his  compan- 
ions busied  themselves  in  preparations  for  the  comfort  and 
protection  of  those  they  guided.  A  spring,  which  many 
long  years  before  had  induced  the  natives  to  select  the 
place  for  their  temporary  fortification,  was  soon  cleared  of 
leaves,  and  a  fountain  of  crystal  gushed  from  the  bed, 
diffusing  its  waters  over  the  verdant  hillock.  A  corner  of 
the  building  was  then  roofed  in  such  a  manner  as  to  ex- 
clude the  heavy  dew  of  the  climate,  and  piles  of  sweet 
shrubs  and  dried  leaves  were  laid  beneath  it  for  the  sisters 
to  repose  on. 

While  the  diligent  woodsmen  were  employed  in  this  man- 
ner, Cora  and  Alice  partook  of  that  refreshment  which  duty 
required  much  more  than  inclination  prompted  them  to  ac- 
cept. They  then  retired  within  the  walls,  and  first  offering 
up  their  thanksgivings  for  past  mercies,  and  petitioning  for 
a  continuance  of  the  Divine  favor  throughout  the  coming 
night,  they  laid  their  tender  forms  on  the  fragrant  couch, 
and  in  spite  of  recollections  and  forebodings,  soon  sank 
into  those  slumbers  which  nature  so  imperiously  demanded, 
and  which  were  sweetened  by  hopes  for  the  morrow.     Dun- 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS.  l6l 

can  had  prepared  himself  to  pass  the  night  in  watchfulness 
near  them,  just  without  the  ruin,  but  the  scout,  perceiving 
his  intention,  pointed  toward  Chingachgook,  as  he  coolly 
disposed  his  own  person  on  the  grass,  and  said — 

"  The  eyes  of  a  white  man  are  too  heavy  and  too  blind 
for  such  a  watch  as  this!  The  Mohican  will  be  our  senti- 
nel, therefore  let  us  sleep." 

"  I  proved  myself  a  sluggard  on  my  post  during  the  past 
night,"  said  Heyward,  "  and  have  less  need  of  repose  than 
you,  who  did  more  credit  to  the  character  of  a  soldier.  Let 
all  the  party  seek  their  rest,  then,  while  I  hold  the  guard." 

"If  we  lay  among  the  white  tents  of  the  6oth,  and  in 
front  of  an  enemy  like  the  French,  I  could  not  ask  for  a 
better  watchman,"  returned  the  scout;  "but  in  the  darkness 
and  among  the  signs  of  the  wilderness  your  judgment  would 
be  like  the  folly  of  a  child,  and  your  vigilance  thrown  away. 
Do  then,  like  Uncas  and  myself,  sleep,  and  sleep  in  safety." 

Heyward  perceived,  in  truth,  that  the  younger  Indian  had 
thrown  his  form  on  the  side  of  the  hillock  while  they  were 
talking,  like  one  who  sought  to  make  the  most  of  the  time 
allotted  to  rest,  and  that  his  example  had  been  followed  by 
David,  whose  voice  literally  "  clove  to  his  jaws  "  with  the 
fever  of  his  wound,  heightened,  as  it  was,  by  their  toilsome 
march.  Unwilling  to  prolong  a  useless  discussion,  the 
young  man  affected  to  comply,  by  posting  his  back  against 
the  logs  of  the  block-house,  in  a  half-recumbent  posture, 
though  resolutely  determined,  in  his  own  mind,  not  to  close 
an  eye  until  he  had  delivered  his  precious  charge  into  the 
arms  of  Munro  himself.  Hawk-eye,  believing  he  had  pre- 
vailed, soon  fell  asleep,  and  a  silence  as  deep  as  the  soli- 
tude in  which  they  had  found  it  pervaded  the  retired  spot. 

For  many  minutes  Duncan  succeeded  in  keeping  his 
senses  on  the  alert,  and  alive  to  every  moaning  sound  that 
arose  from  the  forest.  His  vision  became  more  acute  as 
the  shades  of  evening  settled  on  the  place;  and  even  after 
the  stars  were  glimmering  above  his  head,  he  was  able  to 


l62         THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

distinguish  the  recumbent  forms  of  his  companions,  as  they 
lay  stretched  on  the  grass,  and  to  note  the  person  of  Chin- 
gachgook,  who  sat  upright  and  motionless  as  one  of  the 
trees  which  formed  the  dark  barrier  on  every  side  of  them. 
He  still  heard  the  gentle  breathings  of  the  sisters,  who  lay 
within  a  few  feet  of  him,  and  not  a  leaf  was  ruffled  by  the 
passing  air,  of  which  his  ear  did  not  detect  the  whispering 
sound.  At  length,  however,  the  mournful  notes  of  a  whip- 
poor-will  became  blended  with  the  moanings  of  an  owl; 
his  heavy  eyes  occasionally  sought  the  bright  rays  of  the 
stars,  and  then  he  fancied  he  saw  them  through  the  fallen 
lids.  At  instants  of  momentary  wakefulness  he  mistook  a 
bush  for  his  associate  sentinel;  his  head  next  sank  upon 
his  shoulder,  which,  in  its  turn,  sought  the  support  of  the 
ground;  and,  finally,  his  whole  person  became  relaxed  and 
pliant,  and  the  young  man  sank  into  a  deep  sleep,  dreaming 
that  he  was  a  knight  of  ancient  chivalry,  holding  his  mid- 
night vigils  before  the  tent  of  a  recaptured  princess,  whose 
favor  he  did  not  despair  of  gaining,  by  such  a  proof  of  de- 
votion and  watchfulness. 

How  long  the  tired  Duncan  lay  in  this  insensible  state  he 
never  knew  himself,  but  his  slumbering  visions  had  been 
long  lost  in  total  forgetfulness,  when  he  was  awakened  by 
a  light  tap  on  the  shoulder.  Aroused  by  this  signal,  slight 
as  it  was,  he  sprang  upon  his  feet  with  a  confused  recollec- 
tion of  the  self-imposed  duty  he  had  assumed  with  the  com- 
mencement of  the  night — • 

"Who  comes?"  he  demanded,  feeling  for  his  sword,  at 
the  place  where  it  was  usually  suspended.  "  Speak!  friend 
or  enemy?  " 

"Friend,"  replied  the  low  voice  of  Chingachgook;  who, 
pointing  upward  at  the  luminary  which  was  shedding  its 
mild  light  through  the  opening  in  the  trees,  directly  on 
their  bivouac,  immediately  added,  in  his  rude  English, 
"moon  comes,  and  white  man's  fort  far — far  off;  time  to 
move,  when  sleep  shuts  both  eyes  of  the  Frenchman ! " 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  1 63 

"You  say  true!  call  up  your  friends,  and  bridle  the 
horses,  while  I  prepare  my  own  companions  for  the  march !  " 

"  We  are  awake,  Duncan,"  said  the  soft,  silvery  tones  of 
Alice  within  the  building,  "  and  ready  to  travel  very  fast, 
after  so  refreshing  a  sleep;  but  you  have  watched  through 
the  tedious  night  in  our  behalf,  after  having  endured  so 
much  fatigue  the  livelong  day !  " 

"  Say,  rather,  I  would  have  watched,  but  my  treacherous 
eyes  betrayed  me ;  twice  have  I  proved  myself  unfit  for  the 
trust  I  bear." 

"  Nay,  Duncan,  deny  it  not,"  interrupted  the  smiling 
Alice,  issuing  from  the  shadows  of  the  building  into  the 
light  of  the  moon,  in  all  the  loveliness  of  her  freshened 
beauty ;  "  I  know  you  to  be  a  heedless  one,  when  self  is  the 
object  of  your  care,  and  but  too  vigilant  in  favor  of  others. 
Can  we  not  tarry  here  a  little  longer,  while  you  find  the  rest 
you  need?  Cheerfully,  most  cheerfully,  will  Cora  and  I 
keep  the  vigils,  while  you,  and  all  these  brave  men,  en- 
deavor to  snatch  a  little  sleep!  " 

"If  shame  could  cure  me  of  my  drowsiness,  I  should 
never  close  an  eye  again,"  said  the  uneasy  youth,  gazing  at 
the  ingenuous  countenance  of  Alice,  where,  however,  in  its 
sweet  solicitude,  he  read  nothing  to  confirm  his  half-awak- 
ened suspicion.  "  It  is  but  too  true,  that  after  leading  you 
into  danger  by  my  heedlessness,  I  have  not  even  the  merit 
of  guarding  your  pillows  as  should  become  a  soldier." 

"  No  one  but  Duncan  himself  should  accuse  Duncan  of 
such  a  weakness.  Go,  then,  and  sleep;  believe  me,  neither 
of  us,  weak  girls  as  we  are,  will  betray  our  watch." 

The  young  man  was  relieved  from  the  awkwardness  of 
making  any  further  protestations  of  his  own  demerits,  by  an 
exclamation  from  Chingachgook,  and  the  attitude  of  riveted 
attention  assumed  by  his  son. 

"The  Mohicans  hear  an  enemy!"  whispered  Hawk-eye, 
who,  by  this  time,  in  common  with  the  whole  party,  was 
awake  and  stirring.     "  They  scent  danger  in  the  wind !  " 


164  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

"God  forbid!"  exclaimed  Heyward.  "Surely  we  have 
had  enough  of  bloodshed." 

While  he  spoke,  however,  the  young  soldier  seized  his 
rifle,  and  advancing  toward  the  front,  prepared  to  atone  for 
his  venial  remissness,  by  freely  exposing  his  life  in  defence 
of  those  he  attended. 

"  'Tis  some  creature  of  the  forest  prowling  around  us  in 
quest  of  food,"  he  said,  in  a  whisper,  as  soon  as  the  low, 
and  apparently  distant  sounds,  which  had  startled  the  Mo- 
hicans, reached  his  own  ears. 

"Hist!"  returned  the  attentive  scout;  "'tis  man;  even 
I  can  now  tell  his  tread,  poor  as  my  senses  are  when  com- 
pared to  an  Indian's!  That  scampering  Huron  has  fallen 
in  with  one  of  Montcalm's  outlying  parties,  and  they  have 
struck  upon  our  trail.  I  shouldn't  like,  myself,  to  spill 
more  human  blood  in  this  spot,"  he  added,  looking  around 
with  anxiety  in  his  features,  at  the  dim  objects  by  which  he 
was  surrounded ;  "  but  what  must  be,  must !  Lead  the 
horses  into  the  block-house,  Uncas;  and,  friends,  do  you 
follow  to  the  same  shelter.  Poor  and  old  as  it  is,  it  offers 
a  cover,  and  has  rung  with  the  crack  of  a  rifle  afore  to-night !  " 

He  was  instantly  obeyed,  the  Mohicans  leading  the  Nar- 
ragansets  within  the  ruin,  whither  the  whole  party  repaired, 
with  the  most  guarded  silence. 

The  sounds  of  approaching  footsteps  were  now  too  dis- 
tinctly audible,  to  leave  any  doubts  as  to  the  nature  of  the 
interruption.  They  were  soon  mingled  with  voices  calling 
to  each  other  in  an  Indian  dialect,  which  the  hunter,  in  a 
whisper,  affirmed  to  Heyward  was  the  language  of  the  Hu- 
rons.  When  the  party  reached  the  point  where  the  horses 
had  entered  the  thicket  which  surrounded  the  block-house, 
they  were  evidently  at  fault,  having  lost  those  marks  which, 
until  that  moment,  had  directed  their  pursuit. 

It  would  seem  by  the  voices  that  twenty  men  were  soon 
collected  at  that  one  spot,  mingling  their  different  opinions 
and  advice  in  noisy  clamor. 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS.  I65 

"  The  knaves  know  our  weakness,"  whispered  Hawk-eye, 
who  stood  by  the  side  of  Heyward,  in  deep  shade,  looking 
through  an  opening  in  the  logs,  "or  they  wouldn't  indulge 
their  idleness  in  such  a  squaw's  march.  Listen  to  the  rep- 
tiles! each  man  among  them  seems  to  have  two  tongues, 
and  but  a  single  leg." 

Duncan,  brave  as  he  was  in  the  combat,  could  not,  in 
such  a  moment  of  painful  suspense,  make  any  reply  to 
the  cool  and  characteristic  remark  of  the  scout.  He  only 
grasped  his  rifle  more  firmly,  and  fastened  his  eyes  upon 
the  narrow  opening,  through  which  he  gazed  upon  the 
moonlight  view  with  increasing  anxiety.  The  deeper  tones 
of  one  who  spoke  as  having  authority  were  next  heard,  amid 
a  silence  that  denoted  the  respect  with  which  his  orders,  or 
rather  advice,  was  received.  After  which,  by  the  rustling 
of  leaves,  and  cracking  of  dried  twigs,  it  was  apparent  the 
savages  were  separating  in  pursuit  of  the  lost  trail.  For- 
tunately for  the  pursued,  the  light  of  the  moon,  while  it  shed 
a  flood  of  mild  lustre  upon  the  little  area  around  the  ruin, 
was  not  sufficiently  strong  to  penetrate  the  deep  arches  of 
the  forest,  where  the  objects  still  lay  in  deceptive  shadow. 
The  search  proved  fruitless;  for  so  short  and  sudden  had 
been  the  passage  from  the  faint  path  the  travellers  had 
journeyed  into  the  thicket,  that  every  trace  of  their  footsteps 
was  lost  in  the  obscurity  of  the  woods. 

It  was  not  long,  however,  before  the  restless  savages  were 
heard  beating  the  brush,  and  gradually  approaching  the 
inner  edge  of  that  dense  border  of  young  chestnuts  which 
encircled  the  little  area. 

"They  are  coming,"  muttered  Heyward,  endeavoring  to 
thrust  his  rifle  through  the  chink  in  the  logs;  "let  us  fire 
on  their  approach." 

"  Keep  everything  in  the  shade,"  returned  the  scout;  "the 
snapping  of  a  flint,  or  even  the  smell  of  a  single  karnel  of 
the  brimstone,  would  bring  the  hungry  varlets  upon  us  in  a 
body.     Should  it  please  God  that  we  must  give  battle  for 


1 66  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

the  scalps,  trust  to  the  experience  of  men  who  know  the 
ways  of  the  savages,  and  who  are  not  often  backward  when 
the  war-whoop  is  howled." 

Duncan  cast  his  eyes  behind  him,  and  saw  that  the  trem- 
bling sisters  were  cowering  in  the  far  corner  of  the  building, 
while  the  Mohicans  stood  in  the  shadow,  like  two  upright 
posts,  ready,  and  apparently  willing,  to  strike,  when  the 
blow  should  be  needed.  Curbing  his  impatience,  he  again 
looked  out  upon  the  area,  and  awaited  the  result  in  silence. 
At  that  instant  the  thicket  opened,  and  a  tall  and  armed 
Huron  advanced  a  few  paces  into  the  open  space.  As  he 
gazed  upon  the  silent  block-house,  the  moon  fell  full  upon 
his  swarthy  countenance,  and  betrayed  its  surprise  and 
curiosity.  He  made  the  exclamation  which  usually  accom- 
panies the  former  emotion  in  an  Indian,  and,  calling  in  a 
low  voice,  soon  drew  a  companion  to  his  side. 

These  children  of  the  woods  stood  together  for  several 
moments  pointing  at  the  crumbling  edifice,  and  conversing 
in  the  unintelligible  language  of  their  tribe.  They  then 
approached,  though  with  slow  and  cautious  steps,  pausing 
every  instant  to  look  at  the  building,  like  startled  deer, 
whose  curiosity  struggled  powerfully  with  their  awakened 
apprehensions  for  the  mastery.  The  foot  of  one  of  them 
suddenly  rested  on  the  mound,  and  he  stooped  to  examine 
its  nature.  At  this  moment,  Heyward  observed  that  the 
scout  loosened  his  knife  in  its  sheath,  and  lowered  the  muz- 
zle of  his  rifle.  Imitating  these  movements,  the  young  man 
prepared  himself  for  the  struggle,  which  now  seemed  in- 
evitable. 

The  savages  were  so  near,  that  the  least  motion  in  one  of 
the  horses,  or  even  a  breath  louder  than  common,  would 
have  betrayed  the  fugitives.  But,  in  discovering  the  char- 
acter of  the  mound,  the  attention  of  the  Hurons  appeared 
directed  to  a  different  object.  They  spoke  together,  and  the 
sounds  of  their  voices  were  low  and  solemn,  as  if  influenced 
by  a  reverence  that  was  deeply  blended  with  awe.     Then 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  1 6"J 

they  drew  warily  back,  keeping  their  eyes  riveteu  on  the 
ruin,  as  if  they  expected  to  see  the  apparitions  of  the  dead 
issue  from  its  silent  walls,  until  having  reached  the  boun- 
dary of  the  area,  they  moved  slowly  into  the  thicket,  and 
disappeared. 

Hawk-eye  dropped  the  breech  of  his  rifle  to  the  earth, 
and  drawing  a  long,  free  breath,  exclaimed  in  an  audible 
whisper — 

"  Ay !  they  respect  the  dead,  and  it  has  this  time  saved 
their  own  lives,  and  it  may  be,  the  lives  of  better  men  too." 

Heyward  lent  his  attention,  for  a  single  moment,  to  his 
companion,  but  without  replying,  he  again  turned  toward 
those  who  just  then  interested  him  more.  He  heard  the 
two  Hurons  leave  the  bushes,  and  it  was  soon  plain  that  all 
the  pursuers  were  gathered  about  them,  in  deep  attention  to 
their  report.  After  a  few  minutes  of  earnest  and  solemn 
dialogue,  altogether  different  from  the  noisy  clamor  with 
which  they  had  first  collected  about  the  spot,  the  sounds 
grew  fainter  and  more  distant,  and  finally  were  lost  in  the 
depths  of  the  forest. 

Hawk-eye  waited  until  a  signal  from  the  listening  Chin- 
gachgook  assured  him  that  every  sound  from  the  retiring 
party  was  completely  swallowed  by  the  distance,  when  he 
motioned  to  Heyward  to  lead  forth  the  horses,  and  to  assist 
the  sisters  into  their  saddles.  The  instant  this  was  done, 
they  issued  through  the  broken  gateway,  and  stealing  out  by 
a  direction  opposite  to  the  one  by  which  they  had  entered, 
they  quitted  the  spot,  the  sisters  casting  furtive  glances  at 
the  silent  grave  and  crumbling  ruin,  as  they  left  the  soft 
light  of  the  moon,  to  bury  themselves  in  the  gloom  of  the 
woods. 


1 68  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Guard.— Qui  est  la  ? 

Puc. — Paisans,  pauvres  gens  de  France. 

King  Henry  VI. 

During  the  rapid  movement  from  the  block-house,  and  until 
the  party  was  deeply  buried  in  the  forest,  each  individ- 
ual was  too  much  interested  in  the  escape,  to  hazard  a 
word  even  in  whispers.  The  scout  resumed  his  post  in  the 
advance,  though  his  steps,  after  he  had  thrown  a  safe  dis- 
tance between  himself  and  his  enemies,  were  more  deliber- 
ate than  in  their  previous  march,  in  consequence  of  his 
utter  ignorance  of  the  localities  of  the  surrounding  woods. 
More  than  once  he  halted  to  consult  with  his  confederates, 
the  Mohicans,  pointing  upward  at  the  moon,  and  examining 
the  barks  of  the  trees  with  care.  In  these  brief  pauses, 
Heyward  and  the  sisters  listened,  with  senses  rendered 
doubly  acute  by  the  danger,  to  detect  any  symptoms  which 
might  announce  the  proximity  of  their  foes.  At  such  mo- 
ments, it  seemed  as  if  a  vast  range  of  country  lay  buried  in 
eternal  sleep;  not  the  least  sound  arising  from  the  forest, 
unless  it  was  the  distant  and  scarcely  audible  rippling  of  a 
water-course.  Birds,  beasts,  and  man,  appeared  to  slumber 
alike,  if,  indeed,  any  of  the  latter  were  to  be  found  in  that 
wide  tract  of  wilderness.  But  the  sounds  of  the  rivulet, 
feeble  and  murmuring  as  they  were,  relieved  the  guides  at 
once  from  no  trifling  embarrassment,  and  toward  it  they 
immediately  held  their  way. 

When  the  banks  of  the  little  stream  were  gained,  Hawk- 
eye  made  another  halt;  and,  taking  the  moccasins  from  his 
feet,  he  invited  Heyward  and  Gamut  to  followhis  example. 
He  then  entered  the  water,  and  for  near  an  hour  they 
travelled  in  the  bed  of  the  brook,  leaving  no  trail.  The 
moon  had  already  sunk  into  an  immense  pile  of  black 
clouds,  which  lay  impending  above  the  western    horizon, 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  1 69 

when  they  issued  from  the  low  and  devious  water-course  to 
rise  again  to  the  light  and  level  of  the  sandy  but  wooded 
plain.  Here  the  scout  seemed  to  be  once  more  at  home,  for 
he  held  on  his  way  with  the  certainty  and  diligence  of  a 
man  who  moved  in  the  security  of  his  own  knowledge. 
The  path  soon  became  more  uneven,  and  the  travellers  could 
plainly  perceive  that  the  mountains  drew  nigher  to  them  on 
each  hand,  and  that  they  were,  in  truth,  about  entering  one 
of  their  gorges.  Suddenly  Hawk-eye  made  a  pause,  and 
waiting  until  he  was  joined  by  the  whole  party,  he  spoke, 
though  in  tones  so  low  and  cautious,  that  they  added  to  the 
solemnity  of  his  words,  in  the  quiet  and  darkness  of  the 
place. 

"  It  is  easy  to  know  the  pathways,  and  to  find  the  licks 
and  water-courses  of  the  wilderness,"  he  said ;  "  but  who  that 
saw  this  spot  could  venture  to  say,  that  a  mighty  army  was 
at  rest  among  yonder  silent  trees  and  barren  mountains?  " 

"  We  are  then  at  no  great  distance  from  William  Henry?  " 
said  Heyward,  advancing  nigher  to  the  scout. 

"  It  is  yet  a  long  and  weary  path,  and  when  and  where  to 
strike  it,  is  now  our  greatest  difficulty.  See,"  he  said, 
pointing  through  the  trees  toward  a  spot  where  a  little  basin 
of  water  reflected  the  stars  from  its  placid  bosom,  "here  is 
the  '  bloody  pond ' ;  and  I  am  on  ground  that  I  have  not 
only  often  travelled,  but  over  which  I  have  fou't  the  enemy, 
from  the  rising  to  the  setting  sun." 

"Ha!  that  sheet  of  dull  and  dreary  water,  then,  is  the 
sepulchre  of  the  brave  men  who  fell  in  the  contest.  I  have 
heard  it  named,  but  never  have  I  stood  on  its  banks  before." 

"Three  battles  did  we  make  with  the  Dutch-Frenchman1 
in  a  day,"  continued  Hawk-eye,  pursuing  the  train  of  his 
own  thoughts,  rather  than  replying  to  the  remark  of  Dun- 
can.    "  He  met  us  hard  by,  in  our  outward  march  to  ambush 

*  Baron  Dieskau,  a  German,  in  the  service  of  France.  A  few  years  previously  ta 
the  period  of  the  tale,  this  officer  was  defeated  by  Sir  William  Johnson  of  Johnstown, 
New  York,  on  the  shores  of  Lake  George. 


170  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

his  advance,  and  scattered  us,  like  driven  deer,  through  the 
defile,  to  the  shores  of  Horican.  Then  we  rallied  behind 
our  fallen  trees,  and  made  head  against  him,  under  Sir 
William — who  was  made  Sir  William  for  that  very  deed; 
and  well  did  we  pay  him  for  the  disgrace  of  the  morning. 
Hundreds  of  Frenchmen  saw  the  sun  that  day  for  the  last 
time;  and  even  their  leader,  Dieskau  himself,  fell  into  our 
hands,  so  cut  and  torn  with  the  lead,  that  he  has  gone  back 
to  his  own  country,  unfit  for  further  acts  in  war." 

"  'Twas  a  noble  repulse!"  exclaimed  Heyward,  in  the 
heat  of  his  youthful  ardor;  "the  fame  of  it  reached  us 
early,  in  our  southern  army." 

"Ay!  but  it  did  not  end  there.  I  was  sent  by  Major 
Effingham,  at  Sir  William's  own  bidding,  to  outflank  the 
French,  and  carry  the  tidings  of  their  disaster  across  the 
portage,  to  the  fort  on  the  Hudson.  Just  hereaway,  where 
you  see  the  trees  rise  into  a  mountain  swell,  I  met  a  party 
coming  down  to  our  aid,  and  I  led  them  where  the  enemy 
were  taking  their  meal,  little  dreaming  that  they  had  not 
finished  the  bloody  work  of  the  day." 

"And  you  surprised  them?  " 

"  If  death  can  be  a  surprise  to  men  who  are  thinking  only 
of  the  cravings  of  their  appetites.  We  gave  them  but  little 
breathing  time,  for  they  had  borne  hard  upon  us  in  the  fight 
of  the  morning,  and  there  were  few  in  our  party  who  had 
not  lost  friend  or  relative  by  their  hands.  When  all  was 
over,  the  dead,  and  some  say  the  dying,  were  cast  into  that 
little  pond.  These  eyes  have  seen  its  waters  colored  with 
blood,  as  natural  water  never  yet  flowed  from  the  bowels 
of  the  'arth." 

"  It  was  a  convenient,  and,  I  trust,  will  prove  a  peaceful 
grave  for  a  soldier.  You  have,  then,  seen  much  service  on 
this  frontier?  " 

"  I !  "  said  the  scout,  erecting  his  tall  person  with  an  air 
of  military  pride;  "there  are  not  many  echoes  among  these 
hills  that  haven't  rung  with  the  crack  of  my  rifle,  nor  is  there 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS.  I/I 

the  space  of  a  square  mile  atwixt  Horican  and  the  river, 
that '  Kill-deer  '  hasn't  dropped  a  living  body  on,  be  it  an  en- 
emy or  be  it  a  brute  beast.  As  for  the  grave  there  being  as 
quiet  as  you  mention,  it  is  another  matter.  There  are  them 
in  the  camp  who  say  and  think,  man,  to  lie  still,  should  not 
be  buried  while  the  breath  is  in  the  body;  and  certain  it  is 
that  in  the  hurry  of  that  evening  the  doctors  had  but  little 
time  to  say  who  was  living  and  who  was  dead.  Hist!  see 
you  nothing  walking  on  the  shore  of  the  pond?  " 

"  'Tis  not  probable  that  any  are  as  houseless  as  ourselves, 
in  this  dreary  forest." 

"Such  as  he  may  care  but  little  for  house  or  shelter,  and 
night  dew  can  never  wet  a  body  that  passes  its  days  in  the 
water,"  returned  the  scout,  grasping  the  shoulder  of  Hey- 
ward  with  such  convulsive  strength  as  to  make  the  young 
soldier  painfully  sensible  how  much  superstitious  terror  had 
got  the  mastery  of  a  man  usually  so  dauntless. 

"By  Heaven!  there  is  a  human  form,  and  it  approaches! 
Stand  to  your  arms,  my  friends;  for  we  know  not  whom  we 
encounter." 

"Qui  vive?"  demanded  a  stern,  quick  voice,  which 
sounded  like  a  challenge  from  another  world,  issuing  out  of 
that  solitary  and  solemn  place. 

"  What  says  it?  "  whispered  the  scout;  "  it  speaks  neither 
Indian  nor  English!  " 

"Qui  vive?  "  repeated  the  same  voice,  which  was  quickly 
followed  by  the  rattling  of  arms,  and  a  menacing  attitude. 

"France!"  cried  Heyward,  advancing  from  the  shadow 
of  the  trees  to  the  shore  of  the  pond,  within  a  few  yards  of 
the  sentinel. 

"  D'oii  venez-vous — ou  allez-vous,  d'aussi  bonne  heure?  " 
demanded  the  grenadier,  in  the  language  and  with  the  ac- 
cent of  a  man  from  old  France. 

"  Je  viens  de  la  decouverte,  et  je  vais  me  coucher." 

"  Etes-vous  officier  du  roi  ?  " 

"  Sans  doute,  mon  camarade ;  me  prends-tu  pour  un  pro- 


172  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

vincial!  Je  suis  capitaine  de  chasseurs  (Heyward  well 
knew  that  the  other  was  of  a  regiment  in  the  line) — j'ai  ici, 
avec  moi,  les  filles  du  commandant  de  la  fortification. 
Aha!  tu  en  as  entendu  parler!  je  les  ai  fait  prisonnieres 
pres  de  l'autre  fort,  et  je  les  conduis  au  general." 

"Ma  foi !  mesdames;  j'en  suis  fache  pour  vous,"  ex- 
claimed the  young  soldier,  touching  his  cap  with  grace; 
"  mais — fortune  de  guerre!  vous  trouverez  notre  general  un 
brave  homme,  et  bien  poli  avec  les  dames." 

"  C'est  le  caractere  des  gens  de  guerre,"  said  Cora,  with 
admirable  self-possession.  "Adieu,  mon  ami;  je  vous  sou- 
haiterais  un  devoir  plus  agre'able  a  remplir." 

The  soldier  made  a  low  and  humble  acknowledgment  for 
her  civility;  and  Heyward  adding  a  "bonne  nuit,  mon 
camarade,"  they  moved  deliberately  forward,  leaving  the 
sentinel  pacing  the  banks  of  the  silent  pond,  little  suspect- 
ing an  enemy  of  so  much  effrontery,  and  humming  to  him- 
self those  words,  which  were  recalled  to  his  mind  by  the 
sight  of  women,  and  perhaps  by  recollections  of  his  own 
distant  and  beautiful  France — 

"Vive  le  vin,  vive  l'amour,"  etc.  etc. 

" 'Tis  well  you  understood  the  knave!"  whispered  the 
scout  when  they  had  gained  a  little  distance  from  the  place, 
and  letting  his  rifle  fall  into  the  hollow  of  his  arm  again; 
"  I  soon  saw  that  he  was  one  of  them  uneasy  Frenchers ;  and 
well  for  him  it  was  that  his  speech  was  friendly  and  his 
wishes  kind,  or  a  place  might  have  been  found  for  his  bones 
amongst  those  of  his  countrymen." 

He  was  interrupted  by  a  long  and  heavy  groan  which 
arose  from  the  little  basin,  as  though,  in  truth,  the  spirits 
of  the  departed  lingered  about  their  watery  sepulchre. 

"  Surely  it  was  of  flesh !  "  continued  the  scout ;  "  no  spirit 
could  handle  its  arms  so  steadily!  " 

"  It  was  of  flesh;  but  whether  the  poor  fellow  still  be- 
longs to  this  world  may  well  be  doubted,"  said  Heyward, 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  1 73 

glancing  his  eyes  around  him,  and  missing  Chingachgook 
from  their  little  band.  Another  groan  more  faint  than  the 
former  was  succeeded  by  a  heavy  and  sullen  plunge  into 
the  water,  and  all  was  as  still  again  as  if  the  borders  of  the 
dreary  pool  had  never  been  awakened  from  the  silence  of 
creation.  While  they  yet  hesitated  in  uncertainty,  the  form 
of  the  Indian  was  seen  gliding  out  of  the  thicket.  As  the 
chief  rejoined  them,  with  one  hand  he  attached  the  reeking 
scalp  of  the  unfortunate  young  Frenchman  to  his  girdle,  and 
with  the  other  he  replaced  the  knife  and  tomahawk  that  had 
drunk  his  blood.  He  then  took  his  wonted  station,  with  the 
air  of  a  man  who  believed  he  had  done  a  deed  of  merit. 

The  scout  dropped  one  end  of  his  rifle  to  the  earth,  and 
leaning  his  hands  on  the  other,  he  stood  musing  in  pro- 
found silence.  Then  shaking  his  head  in  a  mournful  man- 
ner, he  muttered — 

"  'Twould  have  been  a  cruel  and  an  unhuman  act  for  a 
white-skin;  but  'tis  the  gift  and  natur'  of  an  Indian,  and  I 
suppose  it  should  not  be  denied.  I  could  wish,  though,  it 
had  befallen  an  accursed  Mingo,  rather  than  that  gay  young 
boy  from  the  old  countries." 

"Enough!"  said  Heyward,  apprehensive  the  unconscious 
sisters  might  comprehend  the  nature  of  the  detention,  and 
conquering  his  disgust  by  a  train  of  reflections  very  much 
like  that  of  the  hunter;  "'tis  done;  and  though  better  it 
were  left  undone,  cannot  be  amended.  You  see  we  are,  too 
obviously,  within  the  sentinels  of  the  enemy;  what  course 
do  you  propose  to  follow?  " 

"Yes,"  said  Hawk-eye,  rousing  himself  again,  "'tis  as 
you  say,  too  late  to  harbor  further  thoughts  about  it.  Ay, 
the  French  have  gathered  around  the  fort  in  good  earnest, 
and  we  have  a  delicate  needle  to  thread  in  passing  them." 

"  And  but  little  time  to  do  it  in,"  added  Heyward,  glanc- 
ing his  eyes  upward,  toward  the  bank  of  vapor  that  con- 
cealed the  setting  moon. 

"  And  little  time  to  do  it  in  !  "  repeated  the  scout.     "  The 


f  74  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

thing  may  be  done  in  two  fashions,  by  the  help  of  Provi- 
dence, without  which  it  may  not  be  done  at  all." 

"  Name  them  quickly,  for  time  presses." 

"One  would  be  to  dismount  the  gentle  ones,  and  let  their 
beasts  range  the  plain;  by  sending  the  Mohicans  in  front, 
we  might  then  cut  a  lane  through  their  sentries,  and  enter 
the  fort  over  the  dead  bodies." 

"It  will  not  do  —  it  will  not  do!  "  interrupted  the  generous 
Heyward;  "a  soldier  might  force  this  way  in  this  manner, 
but  never  with  such  a  convoy." 

"'Twould  be,  indeed,  a  bloody  path  for  such  tender  feet 
to  wade  in,"  returned  the  equally  reluctant  scout;  "but  I 
thought  it  befitting  my  manhood  to  name  it.  We  must  then 
turn  on  our  trail,  and  get  without  the  line  of  their  lookouts, 
when  we  will  bend  short  to  the  west,  and  enter  the  moun- 
tains; where  I  can  hide  you,  so  that  all  the  devil's  hounds 
in  Montcalm's  pay  would  be  thrown  off  the  scent  for  months 
to  come." 

"  Let  it  be  done,  and  that  instantly." 

Further  words  were  unnecessary;  for  Hawk-eye,  merely 
uttering  the  mandate  to  "  follow,"  moved  along  the  route  by 
which  they  had  just  entered  their  present  critical  and  even 
dangerous  situation.  Their  progress,  like  their  late  dia- 
logue, was  guarded,  and  without  noise;  for  none  knew  at 
what  moment  a  passing  patrol,  or  a  crouching  picket,  of  the 
enemy,  might  rise  upon  their  path.  As  they  held  their 
silent  way  along  the  margin  of  the  pond,  again  Heyward 
and  the  scout  stole  furtive  glances  at  its  appalling  dreari- 
ness. They  looked  in  vain  for  the  form  they  had  so  re- 
cently seen  stalking  along  its  silent  shores,  while  a  low  and 
regular  wash  of  the  little  waves,  by  announcing  that  the 
waters  were  not  yet  subsided,  furnished  a  frightful  memorial 
of  the  deed  of  blood  they  had  just  witnessed.  Like  all  that 
passing  and  gloomy  scene,  the  low  basin,  however,  quickly 
melted  in  the  darkness,  and  became  blended  with  the  mass 
of  black  objects,  in  the  rear  of  the  travellers. 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  1 75 

Hawk-eye  soon  deviated  from  the  line  of  their  retreat, 
and  striking  off  toward  the  mountains  which  form  the  west- 
ern boundary  of  the  narrow  plain,  he  led  his  followers,  with 
swift  steps,  deep  within  the  shadows  that  were  cast  from  their 
high  and  broken  summits.  The  route  was  now  painful ;  lying 
over  ground  ragged  with  rocks,  and  intersected  with  ravines, 
and  their  progress  proportionately  slow.  Bleak  and  black 
hills  lay  on  every  side  of  them,  compensating  in  some  de- 
gree for  the  additional  toil  of  the  march,  by  the  sense  of 
security  they  imparted.  At  length  the  party  began  slowly 
to  rise  a  steep  and  rugged  ascent,  by  a  path  that  curiously 
wound  among  rocks  and  trees,  avoiding  the  one,  and  sup- 
ported by  the  other,  in  a  manner  that  showed  it  had  been 
devised  by  men  long  practised  in  the  arts  of  the  wilderness. 
As  they  gradually  rose  from  the  level  of  the  valleys,  the 
thick  darkness  which  usually  precedes  the  approach  of  day 
began  to  disperse,  and  objects  were  seen  in  the  plain  and 
palpable  colors  with  which  they  had  been  gifted  by  nature. 
When  they  issued  from  the  stunted  woods  which  clung  to 
the  barren  sides  of  the  mountain,  upon  a  flat  and  mossy 
rock  that  formed  its  summit,  they  met  the  morning,  as  it 
came  blushing  above  the  green  pines  of  a  hill  that  lay  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  valley  of  the  Horican. 

The  scout  now  told  the  sisters  to  dismount;  and  taking 
the  bridles  from  the  mouths,  and  the  saddles  off  the  backs 
of  the  jaded  beasts,  he  turned  them  loose,  to  glean  a  scanty 
subsistence  among  the  shrubs  and  meagre  herbage  of  that 
elevated  region. 

"Go,"  he  said,  "and  seek  your  food  where  natur'  gives  it 
you;  and  beware  that  you  become  not  food  to  ravenous 
wolves  yourselves,  among  these  hills." 

"  Have  we  no  further  need  of  them  ?  "  demanded  Hey- 
ward. 

"  See,  and  judge  with  your  own  eyes,"  said  the  scout,  ad- 
vancing toward  the  eastern  brow  of  the  mountain,  whither  he 
beckoned  for  the  whole  party  to  follow :  "  if  it  was  as  easy  to 


1^6  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

look  into  the  heart  of  man  as  it  is  to  spy  out  the  nakedness 
of  Montcalm's  camp  from  this  point,  hypocrites  would  grow 
scarce,  and  the  cunning  of  a  Mingo  might  prove  a  losing 
game,  compared  to  the  honesty  of  a  Delaware." 

When  the  travellers  reached  the  verge  of  the  precipice, 
they  saw,  at  a  glance,  the  truth  of  the  scout's  declaration, 
and  the  admirable  foresight  with  which  he  had  led  them  to 
their  commanding  station. 

The  mountain  on  which  they  stood,  elevated,  perhaps,  a 
thousand  feet  in  the  air,  was  a  high  cone  that  rose  a  little 
in  advance  of  that  range  which  stretches  for  miles  along  the 
western  shores  of  the  lake,  until  meeting  its  sister  piles,  be- 
yond the  water,  it  ran  off  toward  the  Canadas,  in  confused 
and  broken  masses  of  rock  thinly  sprinkled  with  evergreens. 
Immediately  at  the  feet  of  the  party,  the  southern  shore  of 
the  Horican  swept  in  a  broad  semicircle,  from  mountain  to 
mountain,  marking  a  wide  strand,  that  soon  rose  into  an 
uneven  and  somewhat  elevated  plain.  To  the  north, 
stretched  the  limpid,  and,  as  it  appeared  from  that  dizzy 
height,  the  narrow  sheet  of  the  "  holy  lake,"  indented  with 
numberless  bays,  embellished  by  fantastic  headlands,  and 
dotted  with  countless  islands.  At  the  distance  of  a  few 
leagues,  the  bed  of  the  waters  became  lost  among  moun- 
tains, or  was  wrapped  in  the  masses  of  vapor  that  came 
slowly  rolling  along  their  bosom,  before  a  light  morning 
air.  But  a  narrow  opening  between  the  crests  of  the  hills 
pointed  out  the  passage  by  which  they  found  their  way  still 
further  north,  to  spread  their  pure  and  ample  sheets  again, 
before  pouring  out  their  tribute  into  the  distant  Champlain. 
To  the  south  stretched  the  defile,  or  rather  broken  plain,  so 
often  mentioned.  For  several  miles  in  this  direction,  the 
mountains  appeared  reluctant  to  yield  their  dominion,  but 
within  reach  of  the  eye  they  diverged,  and  finally  melted 
into  the  level  and  sandy  lands,  across  which  we  have  ac- 
companied our  adventurers  in  their  double  journey.  Along 
both  ranges  of  hills,  which  bounded  the  opposite  sides  of 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  177 

the  lake  and  valley,  clouds  of  light  vapor  were  rising  in 
spiral  wreaths  from  the  uninhabited  woods,  looking  like  the 
smokes  of  hidden  cottages;  or  rolled  lazily  down  the  de- 
clivities, to  mingle  with  the  fogs  of  the  lower  land.  A  sin- 
gle, solitary,  snow-white  cloud  floated  above  the  valley,  and 
marked  the  spot  beneath  which  lay  the  silent  pool  of  the 
"bloody  pond." 

Directly  on  the  shore  of  the  lake,  and  nearer  to  its  west- 
ern than  to  its  eastern  margin,  lay  the  extensive  earthen 
ramparts  and  low  buildings  of  William  Henry.  Two  of  the 
sweeping  bastions  appeared  to  rest  on  the  water  which 
washed  their  bases,  while  a  deep  ditch  and  extensive  mo- 
rasses guarded  its  other  sides  and  angles.  The  land  had 
been  cleared  of  wood  for  a  reasonable  distance  around  the 
work,  but  every  other  part  of  the  scene  lay  in  the  green  liv- 
ery of  nature,  except  where  the  limpid  water  mellowed  the 
view,  or  the  bold  rocks  thrust  their  black  and  naked  heads 
above  the  undulating  outline  of  the  mountain  ranges.  In 
its  front  might  be  seen  the  scattered  sentinels,  who  held  a 
weary  watch  against  their  numerous  foes;  and  within  the 
walls  themselves,  the  travellers  looked  down  upon  men  still 
drowsy  with  a  night  of  vigilance.  Toward  the  southeast, 
but  in  immediate  contact  with  the  fort,  was  an  entrenched 
camp,  posted  on  a  rocky  eminence,  that  would  have  been  far 
more  eligible  for  the  work  itself,  in  which  Hawk-eye  pointed 
out  the  presence  of  those  auxiliary  regiments  that  had  so  re- 
cently left  the  Hudson  in  their  company.  From  the  woods, 
a  little  further  to  the  south,  rose  numerous  dark  and  lurid 
smokes,  that  were  easily  to  be  distinguished  from  the  purer 
exhalations  of  the  springs,  and  which  the  scout  also  showed 
to  Heyward,  as  evidences  that  the  enemy  lay  in  force  in  that 
direction. 

But  the  spectacle  which  most  concerned  the  young  soldier 
was  on  the  western  bank  of  the  lake,  though  quite  near  to  its 
southern  termination.  On  a  strip  of  land,  which  appeared, 
from  his  stand,  too  narrow  to   contain   such   an  army,  but 

12 


I78  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

which,  in  truth,  extended  many  hundreds  of  yards  from  the 
shores  of  the  Horican  to  the  base  of  the  mountain,  were  to 
be  seen  the  white  tents  and  military  engines  of  an  encamp- 
ment of  ten  thousand  men.  Batteries  were  already  thrown 
up  in  their  front,  and  even  while  the  spectators  above  them 
were  looking  down,  with  such  different  emotions,  on  a  scene 
which  lay  like  a  map  beneath  their  feet,  the  roar  of  artillery 
rose  from  the  valley,  and  passed  off  in  thundering  echoes, 
along  the  eastern  hills. 

"  Morning  is  just  touching  them  below,"  said  the  delib- 
erate and  musing  scout,  "  and  the  watchers  have  a  mind  to 
wake  up  the  sleepers  by  the  sound  of  cannon.  We  are  a 
few  hours  too  late!  Montcalm  has  already  filled  the  woods 
with  his  accursed  Iroquois." 

"The  place  is,  indeed,  invested,"  returned  Duncan,  "but 
is  there  no  expedient  by  which  we  may  enter?  capture  in 
the  works  would  be  far  preferable  to  falling  again  into  the 
hands  of  roving  Indians." 

"See!  "  exclaimed  the  scout,  unconsciously  directing  the 
attention  of  Cora  to  the  quarters  of  her  own  father,  "  how 
that  shot  has  made  the  stones  fly  from  the  side  of  the  com- 
mandant's house!  Ay!  these  Frenchers  will  pull  it  to 
pieces  faster  than  it  was  put  together,  solid  and  thick  though 
it  be." 

"  Heyward,  I  sicken  at  the  sight  of  danger  that  I  cannot 
share,"  said  the  undaunted,  but  anxious  daughter.  "  Let  us 
go  to  Montcalm,  and  demand  admission :  he  dare  not  deny 
a  child  the  boon." 

"  You  would  scarce  find  the  tent  of  the  Frenchman  with 
the  hair  on  your  head,"  said  the  blunt  scout.  "If  I  had 
but  one  of  the  thousand  boats  which  lie  empty  along  that 
shore,  it  might  be  done.  Ha!  here  will  soon  be  an  end  of 
the  firing,  for  yonder  comes  a  fog  that  will  turn  day  to  night, 
and  make  an  Indian  arrow  more  dangerous  than  a  moulded 
cannon.  Now,  if  you  are  equal  to  the  work,  and  will  fol- 
low, I  will  make  a  push;  for  I  long  to  get  down  into  that 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  1 79 

camp,  if  it  be  only  to  scatter  some  Mingo  dogs  that  I  see 
lurking  in  the  skirts  of  yonder  thicket  of  birch.'' 

"  We  are  equal,"  said  Cora,  firmly :  "  on  such  an  errand 
we  will  follow  to  any  danger." 

The  scout  turned  to  her  with  a  smile  of  honest  and  cordial 
approbation,  as  he  answered — 

"I  would  I  had  a  thousand  men,  of  brawny  limbs  and 
quick  eyes,  that  feared  death  as  little  as  you!  I'd  send 
them  jabbering  Frenchers  back  into  their  den  again,  afore 
the  week  was  ended,  howling  like  so  many  fettered  hounds 
or  hungry  wolves.  But  stir,"  he  added,  turning  from  her  to 
the  rest  of  the  party,  "the  fog  comes  rolling  down  so  fast, 
we  shall  have  but  just  the  time  to  meet  it  on  the  plain,  and 
use  it  as  a  cover.  Remember,  if  any  accident  should  befall 
me,  to  keep  the  air  blowing  on  your  left  cheeks — or,  rather, 
follow  the  Mohicans ;  they'd  scent  their  way,  be  it  in  day 
or  be  it  at  night." 

He  then  waved  his  hand  for  them  to  follow,  and  threw 
himself  down  the  steep  declivity,  with  free,  but  careful  foot- 
steps. Heyward  assisted  the  sisters  to  descend,  and  in  a 
few  minutes  they  were  all  far  down  a  mountain  whose  sides 
they  had  climbed  with  so  much  toil  and  pain. 

The  direction  taken  by  Hawk-eye  soon  brought  the  trav- 
ellers to  the  level  of  the  plain,  nearly  opposite  to  a  sally- 
port in  the  western  curtain  of  the  fort,  which  lay,  itself,  at 
the  distance  of  about  half  a  mile  from  the  point  where  he 
halted  to  allow  Duncan  to  come  up  with  his  charge.  In 
their  eagerness,  and  favored  by  the  nature  of  the  ground, 
they  had  anticipated  the  fog,  which  was  rolling  heavily 
down  the  lake,  and  it  became  necessary  to  pause,  until  the 
mists  had  wrapped  the  camp  of  the  enemy  in  their  fleecy 
mantle.  The  Mohicans  profited  by  the  delay,  to  steal  out 
of  the  woods,  and  to  make  a  survey  of  surrounding  objects. 
They  were  followed  at  a  little  distance  by  the  scout,  with  a 
view  to  profit  early  by  their  report,  and  to  obtain  some  faint 
knowledge  for  himself  of  the  more  immediate  localities. 


I  SO  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

In  a  very  few  moments  he  returned,  his  face  reddened 
with  vexation,  while  he  muttered  his  disappointment  in 
words  of  no  very  gentle  import. 

"  Here  has  the  cunning  Frenchman  been  posting  a  picket 
directly  in  our  path,"  he  said;  "red-skins  and  whites;  and 
we  shall  be  as  likely  to  fall  into  their  midst  as  to  pass  them 
in  the  fog!" 

"  Cannot  we  make  a  circuit  to  avoid  the  danger,"  asked 
Heyward,  "  and  come  into  our  path  again  when  it  is 
passed  ?  " 

"Who  that  once  bends  from  the  line  of  his  march  in  a 
fog  can  tell  when  or  how  to  turn  to  find  it  again !  The  mists 
of  Horican  are  not  like  the  curls  from  a  peace-pipe,  or  the 
smoke  which  settles  above  a  mosquito  fire." 

He  was  yet  speaking,  when  a  crashing  sound  was  heard, 
and  a  cannon-ball  entered  the  thicket,  striking  the  body  of 
a  sapling,  and  rebounding  to  the  earth,  its  force  being  much 
expended  by  previous  resistance.  The  Indians  followed 
instantly  like  busy  attendants  on  the  terrible  messenger, 
and  Uncas  commenced  speaking  earnestly,  and  with  much 
action,  in  the  Delaware  tongue. 

"  It  may  be  so,  lad,"  muttered  the  scout,  when  he  had 
ended ;  "  for  desperate  fevers  are  not  to  be  treated  like  a 
toothache.     Come  then,  the  fog  is  shutting  in." 

"Stop!"  cried  Heyward;  "first  explain  your  expecta- 
tions." 

" 'Tis  soon  done,  and  a  small  hope  it  is;  but  it  is  better 
than  nothing.  This  shot  that  you  see,"  added  the  scout, 
kicking  the  harmless  iron  with  his  foot,  "has  ploughed  the 
'arth  in  its  road  from  the  fort,  and  we  shall  hunt  for  the 
furrow  it  has  made,  when  all  other  signs  may  fail.  No  more 
words,  but  follow,  or  the  fog  may  leave  us  in  the  middle  of 
our  path,  a  mark  for  both  armies  to  shoot  at." 

Heyward  perceiving  that,  in  fact,  a  crisis  had  arrived, 
when  acts  were  more  required  than  words,  placed  himself 
between  the  sisters,  and  drew  them  swiftly  forward,  keeping 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  l8l 

tne  dim  figure  of  their  leader  in  his  eye.  It  was  soon  ap- 
parent that  Hawk-eye  had  not  magnified  the  power  of  the 
fog,  for  before  they  had  proceeded  twenty  yards,  it  was 
difficult  for  the  different  individuals  of  the  party  to  distin- 
guish each  other,  in  the  vapor. 

They  had  made  their  little  circuit  to  the  left,  and  were 
already  inclining  again  toward  the  right,  having,  as  Hey- 
ward  thought,  got  over  nearly  half  the  distance  to  the 
friendly  works,  when  his  ears  were  saluted  with  the  fierce 
summons,  apparently  within  twenty  feet  of  them,  of — 

"Qui  va  la?" 

"  Push  on !  "  whispered  the  scout,  once  more  bending  to 
the  left. 

"  Push  on !  "  repeated  Hey  ward ;  when  the  summons  was 
renewed  by  a  dozen  voices,  each  of  which  seemed  charged 
with  menace. 

"  C'est  moi,"  cried  Duncan,  dragging,  rather  than  leading 
those  he  supported,  swiftly  onward. 

"Bete!— qui?— moi!" 

"Ami  de  la  France." 

"  Tu  m'as  plus  1'air  d'un  e?inemi  de  la  France;  arrete!  ou, 
pardieu,  je  te  ferai  ami  du  diable.  Non!  feu;  camarades, 
feu!" 

The  order  was  instantly  obeyed,  and  the  fog  was  stirred 
by  the  explosion  of  fifty  muskets.  Happily,  the  aim  was 
bad,  and  the  bullets  cut  the  air  in  a  direction  a  little  dif- 
ferent from  that  taken  by  the  fugitives;  though  still  so 
nigh  them,  that  to  the  unpractised  ears  of  David  and  the 
two  females,  it  appeared  as  if  they  whistled  within  a  few 
inches  of  the  organs.  The  outcry  was  renewed,  and  the 
order,  not  only  to  fire  again,  but  to  pursue,  was  too  plainly 
audible.  When  Heyward  briefly  explained  the  meaning  of 
the  words  they  heard,  Hawk-eye  halted,  and  spoke  with 
quick  decision  and  great  firmness. 

"Let  us  deliver  our  fire,"  he  said;  "they  will  believe  it  a 
sortie,  and  give  way,  or  they  will  wait  for  reinforcements." 


1 82  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

The  scheme  was  well  conceived,  but  failed  in  its  effect. 
The  instant  the  French  heard  the  pieces,  it  seemed  as  if 
the  plain  was  alive  with  men,  muskets  rattling  along  its 
whole  extent,  from  the  shores  of  the  lake  to  the  furthest 
boundary  of  the  woods. 

"  We  shall  draw  their  entire  army  upon  us,  and  bring  on 
a  general  assault,"  said  Duncan  :  "  lead  on,  my  friend,  for 
your  own  life,  and  ours." 

The  scout  seemed  willing  to  comply ;  but,  in  the  hurry  of 
the  moment,  and  in  the  change  of  position,  he  had  lost  the 
direction.  In  vain  he  turned  either  cheek  toward  the  light 
air;  they  felt  equally  cool.  In  this  dilemma,  Uncas  lighted 
on  the  furrow  of  the  cannon-ball,  where  it  had  cut  the  ground 
in  three  adjacent  ant-hills. 

"Give  me  the  range!  "  said  Hawk-eye,  bending  to  catch 
a  glimpse  of  the  direction,  and  then  instantly  moving  on- 
ward. 

Cries,  oaths,  voices  calling  to  each  other,  and  the  reports 
of  muskets,  were  now  quick  and  incessant,  and,  apparently, 
on  every  side  of  them.  Suddenly,  a  strong  glare  of  light 
flashed  across  the  scene,  the  fog  rolled  upwards  in  thick 
wreaths,  and  several  cannon  belched  across  the  plain,  and 
the  roar  was  thrown  heavily  back  from  the  bellowing  echoes 
of  the  mountain. 

"  'Tis  from  the  fort!  "  exclaimed  Hawk-eye,  turning  short 
on  his  tracks;  "and  we,  like  stricken  fools,  were  rushing  to 
the  woods,  under  the  very  knives  of  the  Maquas." 

The  instant  their  mistake  was  rectified,  the  whole  party 
retraced  the  error  with  the  utmost  diligence.  Duncan  will- 
ingly relinquished  the  support  of  Cora  to  the  arm  of  Uncas, 
and  Cora  as  readily  accepted  the  welcome  assistance.  Men, 
hot  and  angry  in  pursuit,  were  evidently  on  their  footsteps, 
and  each  instant  threatened  their  capture,  if  not  their  de- 
struction. 

"  Point  de  quartier  aux  coquins !  "  cried  an  eager  pursuer, 
who  seemed  to  direct  the  operations  of  the  enemy. 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  1 83 

"  Stand  firm,  and  be  ready,  my  gallant  6oths !  suddenly 
exclaimed  a  voice  above  them;  "wait  to  see  the  enemy; 
fire  low,  and  sweep  the  glacis." 

"Father!  Father!"  exclaimed  a  piercing  cry  from  out 
the  mist;  "it  is  I!  Alice!  thy  own  Elsie!  spare,  oh!  save 
your  daughter !  " 

"Hold!  "  shouted  the  former  speaker,  in  the  awful  tones 
of  parental  agony,  the  sound  reaching  even  to  the  woods, 
and  rolling  back  in  solemn  echo.  '"Tisshe!  God  has  re- 
stored me  my  children!  Throw  open  the  sally-port;  to  the 
field,  6oths,  to  the  field;  pull  not  a  trigger,  lest  ye  kill  my 
lambs!     Drive  off  these  dogs  of  France  with  your  steel." 

Duncan  heard  the  grating  of  the  rusty  hinges,  and  dart- 
ing to  the  spot,  directed  by  the  sound,  he  met  a  long  line 
of  dark-red  warriors,  passing  swiftly  toward  the  glacis.  He 
knew  them  for  his  own  battalion  of  the  Royal  Americans, 
and,  flying  to  their  head,  soon  swept  every  trace  of  his  pur- 
suers from  before  the  works. 

For  an  instant,  Cora  and  Alice  had  stood  trembling  and 
bewildered  by  this  unexpected  desertion ;  but,  before  either 
had  leisure  for  speech,  or  even  thought,  an  officer  of  gigan- 
tic frame,  whose  locks  were  bleached  with  years  and  service, 
but  whose  air  of  military  grandeur  had  been  rather  softened 
than  destroyed  by  time,  rushed  out  of  the  body  of  the  mist, 
and  folded  them  to  his  bosom,  while  large  scalding  tears 
rolled  down  his  pale  and  wrinkled  cheeks,  and  he  exclaimed, 
in  the  peculiar  accent  of  Scotland — 

"For  this  I  thank  thee,  Lord!  Let  danger  come  as  it 
will,  thy  servant  is  now  prepared!" 


I84  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

Then  go  we  in,  to  know  his  embassy  ; 
Which  I  could,  with  ready  guess,  declare, 
Before  the  Frenchman  speak  a  word  of  it. 

King  Henry  V. 

A  few  succeeding  days  were  passed  amid  the  privations, 
the  uproar,  and  the  dangers  of  the  siege,  which  was  vigor- 
ously pressed  by  a  power  against  whose  approaches  Munro 
possessed  no  competent  means  of  resistance.  It  appeared  as 
if  Webb,  with  his  army,  which  lay  slumbering  on  the  banks 
of  the  Hudson,  had  utterly  forgotten  the  strait  to  which  his 
countrymen  were  reduced.  Montcalm  had  filled  the  woods 
of  the  portage  with  his  savages,  every  yell  and  whoop  from 
whom  rang  through  the  British  encampment,  chilling  the 
hearts  of  men  who  were  already  but  too  much  disposed  to 
magnify  the  danger. 

Not  so,  however,  with  the  besieged.  Animated  by  the 
words,  and  stimulated  by  the  examples,  of  their  leaders, 
they  had  found  their  courage,  and  maintained  their  ancient 
reputation,  with  a  zeal  that  did  justice  to  the  stern  charac- 
ter of  their  commander.  As  if  satisfied  with  the  toil  of 
marching  through  the  wilderness  to  encounter  his  enemy, 
the  French  general,  though  of  approved  skill,  had  neglected 
to  seize  the  adjacent  mountains;  whence  the  besieged  might 
have  been  exterminated  with  impunity,  and  which,  in  the 
more  modern  warfare  of  the  country,  would  not  have  been 
neglected  for  a  single  hour.  This  sort  of  contempt  for  emi- 
nences, or  rather  dread  of  the  labor  of  ascending  them,  might 
have  been  termed  the  besetting  weakness  of  the  warfare  of 
the  period.  It  originated  in  the  simplicity  of  the  Indian 
contests,  in  which,  from  the  nature  of  the  combats,  and  the 
density  of  the  forests,  fortresses  were  rare,  and  artillery  next 
to  useless.  The  carelessness  engendered  by  these  usages 
descended  even  to  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  and  lost  the 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  1 85 

states  the  important  fortress  of  Ticonderoga,  opening  a  way 
for  the  army  of  Burgoyne  into  what  was  then  the  bosom  of 
the  country.  We  look  back  at  this  ignorance,  or  infatua- 
tion, whichever  it  may  be  called,  with  wonder,  knowing  that 
the  neglect  of  an  eminence,  whose  difficulties,  like  those  of 
Mount  Defiance,  have  been  so  greatly  exaggerated,  would, 
at  the  present  time,  prove  fatal  to  the  reputation  of  the  engi- 
neer who  had  planned  the  works  at  their  base,  or  to  that  of 
the  general  whose  lot  it  was  to  defend  them. 

The  tourist,  the  valetudinarian,  or  the  amateur  of  the 
beauties  of  nature,  who,  in  the  train  of  his  four-in-hand,  now 
rolls  through  the  scenes  we  have  attempted  to  describe,  in 
quest  of  information,  health,  or  pleasure,  or  floats  steadily 
toward  his  object  on  those  artificial  waters  which  have 
sprung  up  under  the  administration  of  a  statesman  *  who 
has  dared  to  stake  his  political  character  on  the  hazardous 
issue,  is  not  to  suppose  that  his  ancestors  traversed  those 
hills  or  struggled  with  the  same  currents  with  equal  facil- 
ity. The  transportation  of  a  single  heavy  gun  was  often 
considered  equal  to  a  victory  gained;  if,  happily,  the  diffi- 
culties of  the  passage  had  not  so  far  separated  it  from  its 
necessary  concomitant,  the  ammunition,  as  to  render  it  no 
more  than  an  useless  tube  of  unwieldy  iron. 

The  evils  of  this  state  of  things  pressed  heavily  on  the 
fortunes  of  the  resolute  Scotsman  who  now  defended  Wil- 
liam Henry.  Though  his  adversary  neglected  the  hills,  he 
had  planted  his  batteries  with  judgment  on  the  plain,  and 
caused  them  to  be  served  with  vigor  and  skill.  Against 
this  assault,  the  besieged  could  only  oppose  the  imperfect 
and  hasty  preparations  of  a  fortress  in  the  wilderness. 

It  was  in  the  afternoon  of  the  fifth  day  of  the  siege,  and 
the  fourth  of  his  own  service  in  it,  that  Major  Heyward 
profited  by  a  parley  that  had  just  been  beaten,  by  repairing 
to  the  ramparts  of  one  of  the  water  bastions,  to  breathe  the 
cool  air  from  the  lake,  and  to  take  a  survey  of  the  progress 

*  Evidently  the  late  De  Witt  Clinton,  who  died  governor  of  New  York,  in  1828. 


1 86  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

of  the  siege.  He  was  alone,  if  the  solitary  sentinel  who 
paced  the  mound  be  excepted;  for  the  artillerists  had  hast- 
ened also  to  profit  by  the  temporary  suspension  of  their  ar- 
duous duties.  The  evening  was  delightfully  calm,  and  the 
light  air  from  the  limpid  water  fresh  and  soothing.  It 
seemed  as  if,  with  the  termination  to  the  roar  of  artillery 
and  the  plunging  of  shot,  nature  had  also  seized  the  mo- 
ment to  assume  her  mildest  and  most  captivating  form.  The 
sun  poured  down  his  parting  glory  on  the  scene,  without 
the  oppression  of  those  fierce  rays  that  belong  to  the  climate 
and  the  season.  The  mountains  looked  green,  and  fresh, 
and  lovely;  tempered  with  the  milder  light,  or  softened  in 
shadow,  as  thin  vapors  floated  between  them  and  the  sun. 
The  numerous  islands  rested  on  the  bosom  of  the  Horican, 
some  low  and  sunken,  as  if  imbedded  in  the  waters,  and 
others  appearing  to  hover  above  the  element,  in  little  hil- 
locks of  green  velvet;  among  which  the  fishermen  of  the 
beleaguering  army  peacefully  rowed  their  skiffs,  or  floated 
at  rest  on  the  glassy  mirror  in  quiet  pursuit  of  their  em- 
ployment. 

The  scene  was  at  once  animated  and  still.  All  that  per- 
tained to  nature  was  sweet,  or  simply  grand ;  while  those 
parts  which  depended  on  the  temper  and  movements  of  man 
were  lively  and  playful. 

Two  little  spotless  flags  were  abroad,  the  one  on  a  salient 
angle  of  the  fort,  and  the  other  on  the  advanced  battery  of 
the  besiegers;  emblems  of  the  truce  which  existed,  not  only 
to  the  acts,  but  it  would  seem,  also,  to  the  enmity  of  the 
combatants. 

Behind  these,  again,  swung,  heavily  opening  and  closing 
in  silken  folds,  the  rival  standards  of  England  and  France. 

A  hundred  gay  and  thoughtless  young  Frenchmen  were 
drawing  a  net  to  the  pebbly  beach,  within  dangerous  prox- 
imity to  the  sullen  but  silent  cannon  of  the  fort,  while  the 
eastern  mountain  was  sending  back  the  loud  shouts  and  gay 
merriment  that  attended  their  sport.     Some  were  rushing 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  I§5 

states  the  important  fortress  of  Ticonderoga,  opening  a  way 
for  the  army  of  fiurgoyne  into  what  was  then  the  bosom  of 
the  country.  We  look  back  at  this  ignorance,  or  infatua- 
tion, whichever  it  may  be  called,  with  wonder,  knowing  that 
the  neglect  of  an  eminence,  whose  difficulties,  like  those  of 
Mount  Defiance,  have  been  so  greatly  exaggerated,  would, 
at  the  present  time,  prove  fatal  to  the  reputation  of  the  engi- 
neer who  had  planned  the  works  at  their  base,  or  to  that  of 
the  general  whose  lot  it  was  to  defend  them. 

The  tourist,  the  valetudinarian,  or  the  amateur  of  the 
beauties  of  nature,  who,  in  the  train  of  his  four-in-hand,  now 
rolls  through  the  scenes  we  have  attempted  to  describe,  in 
quest  of  information,  health,  or  pleasure,  or  floats  steadily 
toward  his  object  on  those  artificial  waters  which  have 
sprung  up  under  the  administration  of  a  statesman  *  who 
has  dared  to  stake  his  political  character  on  the  hazardous 
issue,  is  not  to  suppose  that  his  ancestors  traversed  those 
hills  or  struggled  with  the  same  currents  with  equal  facil- 
ity. The  transportation  of  a  single  heavy  gun  was  often 
considered  equal  to  a  victory  gained;  if,  happily,  the  diffi- 
culties of  the  passage  had  not  so  far  separated  it  from  its 
necessary  concomitant,  the  ammunition,  as  to  render  it  no 
more  than  an  useless  tube  of  unwieldy  iron. 

The  evils  of  this  state  of  things  pressed  heavily  on  the 
fortunes  of  the  resolute  Scotsman  who  now  defended  Wil- 
liam Henry.  Though  his  adversary  neglected  the  hills,  he 
had  planted  his  batteries  with  judgment  on  the  plain,  and 
caused  them  to  be  served  with  vigor  and  skill.     Against 

Uv;  °ssault,  the  besieged  could  only  oppose  the  imperfect 
«»  o  u,  nreparations  0f  a  fortress  in  the  wilderness. 

.  *"    .  u  Q  afternoon  of  the  fifth  day  of  the  siege,  and 
It  was  in  tnfe»nt  •       •      -^  -i_  \  ■»«•  ■       TT  1 

,  ,  .        "wn  service  in   it,  that  Maior  Heyward 
the  fourth  of  his  tfhe  *.,.  ,    j   •    ^  i_        .  ,  .  . 

_     ,  ,  *  had  just  been  beaten,  by  repairing 

profited  by  a  parley  tha^rch,  .      ,      ..  .     ,        .,      ., 

,  ,  ,    ,e  water  bastions,  to  breathe  the 

to  the  ramparts  of  one  of  thd  k.  ,  ,  ^ 

,     .    ,  .11  ,  'ke  a.  survey  of  the  progress 

cool  air  from  the  lake,  and  to  tann  v 

governor  of  New  York,  in  1828. 
*  Evidently  the  late  De  Witt  Clinton,  who  died  4, 


1 86  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

of  the  siege.  He  was  alone,  if  the  solitary  sentinel  who 
paced  the  mound  be  excepted;  for  the  artillerists  had  hast- 
ened also  to  profit  by  the  temporary  suspension  of  their  ar- 
duous duties.  The  evening  was  delightfully  calm,  and  the 
light  air  from  the  limpid  water  fresh  and  soothing.  It 
seemed  as  if,  with  the  termination  to  the  roar  of  artillery 
and  the  plunging  of  shot,  nature  had  also  seized  the  mo- 
ment to  assume  her  mildest  and  most  captivating  form.  The 
sun  poured  down  his  parting  glory  on  the  scene,  without 
the  oppression  of  those  fierce  rays  that  belong  to  the  climate 
and  the  season.  The  mountains  looked  green,  and  fresh, 
and  lovely;  tempered  with  the  milder  light,  or  softened  in 
shadow,  as  thin  vapors  floated  between  them  and  the  sun. 
The  numerous  islands  rested  on  the  bosom  of  the  Horican, 
some  low  and  sunken,  as  if  imbedded  in  the  waters,  and 
others  appearing  to  hover  above  the  element,  in  little  hil- 
locks of  green  velvet;  among  which  the  fishermen  of  the 
beleaguering  army  peacefully  rowed  their  skiffs,  or  floated 
at  rest  on  the  glassy  mirror,  in  quiet  pursuit  of  their  em- 
ployment. 

The  scene  was  at  once  animated  and  still.  All  that  per- 
tained to  nature  was  sweet,  or  simply  grand;  while  those 
parts  which  depended  on  the  temper  and  movements  of  man 
were  lively  and  playful. 

Two  little  spotless  flags  were  abroad,  the  one  on  a  salient 
angle  of  the  fort,  and  the  other  on  the  advanced  battery  of 
the  besiegers;  emblems  of  the  truce  which  existed,  not  only 
to  the  acts,  but  it  would  seem,  also,  to  the  enmity  of  the 
combatants. 

Behind  these,  again,  swung,  heavily  opening  and  closing 
in  silken  folds,  the  rival  standards  of  England  and  France. 

A  hundred  gay  and  thoughtless  young  Frenchmen  were 
drawing  a  net  to  the  pebbly  beach;  within  dangerous  prox- 
imity to  the  sullen  but  silent  cannon  of  the  fort,  while  the 
eastern  mountain  was  sending  back  the  loud  shouts  and  gay 
merriment  that  attended  their  sport.     Some  were  rushing 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  1 87 

eagerly  to  enjoy  the  aquatic  games  of  the  lake,  and  others 
were  already  toiling  their  way  up  the  neighboring  hills,  with 
the  restless  curiosity  of  their  nation.  To  all  these  sports 
and  pursuits,  those  of  the  enemy  who  watched  the  besieged, 
and  the  besieged  themselves,  were,  however,  merely  the 
idle,  though  sympathizing  spectators.  Here  and  there  a 
picket  had,  indeed,  raised  a  song,  or  mingled  in  a  dance, 
which  had  drawn  the  dusky  savages  around  them,  from  their 
lairs  in  the  forest.  In  short,  everything  wore  rather  the 
appearance  of  a  day  of  pleasure,  than  of  an  hour  stolen  from 
the  dangers  and  toil  of  a  bloody  and  vindictive  warfare. 

Duncan  had  stood  in  a  musing  attitude,  contemplating 
this  scene  a  few  minutes,  when  his  eyes  were  directed  to  the 
glacis  in  front  of  the  sally-port  already  mentioned,  by  the 
sounds  of  approaching  footsteps.  He  walked  to  an  angle 
of  the  bastion,  and  beheld  the  scout  advancing,  under  the 
custody  of  a  French  officer,  to  the  body  of  the  fort.  The 
countenance  of  Hawk-eye  was  haggard  and  careworn,  and 
his  air  dejected,  as  though  he  felt  the  deepest  degradation 
at  having  fallen  into  the  power  of  his  enemies.  He  was 
without  his  favorite  weapon, and  his  arms  were  even  bound 
behind  him  with  thongs,  made  of  the  skin  of  a  deer.  The 
arrival  of  flags,  to  cover  the  messengers  of  summons,  had 
occurred  so  often  of  late,  that  when  Heyward  first  threw  his 
careless  glance  on  this  group,  he  expected  to  see  another  of 
the  officers  of  the  enemy,  charged  with  a  similar  office;  but 
the  instant  he  recognized  the  tall  person,  and  still  sturdy, 
though  downcast,  features  of  his  friend,  the  woodsman,  he 
started  with  surprise,  and  turned  to  descend  from  the  bas- 
tion into  the  bosom  of  the  work. 

The  sounds  of  other  voices,  however,  caught  his  attention, 
and  for  a  moment  caused  him  to  forget  his  purpose.  At 
the  inner  angle  of  the  mound  he  met  the  sisters,  walking 
along  the  parapet,  in  search,  like  himself,  of  air  and  relief 
from  confinement.  They  had  not  met  since  that  painful 
moment  when  he  deserted  them  on  the  plain,  only  to  assure 


155  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

their  safety.  He  had  parted  from  them  worn  with  care,  and 
jaded  with  fatigue;  he  now  saw  them  refreshed  and  bloom- 
ing, though  timid  and  anxious.  Under  such  an  inducement 
it  will  cause  no  surprise  that  the  young  man  lost  sight,  for  a 
time,  of  other  objects  in  order  to  address  them.  He  was, 
however,  anticipated  by  the  voice  of  the  ingenuous  and 
youthful  Alice. 

"Ah!  thou  truant!  thou  recreant  knight!  he  who  aban- 
dons his  damsels  in  the  very  lists!  "  she  cried;  "here  have 
we  been  days,  nay,  ages,  expecting  you  at  our  feet,  implor- 
ing mercy  and  forgetfulness  of  your  craven  backsliding,  or, 
I  should  rather  say,  back-running — -for  verily  you  fled  in  a 
manner  that  no  stricken  deer,  as  our  worthy  friend  the  scout 
would  say,  could  equal !  " 

"  You  know  that  Alice  means  our  thanks  and  our  bless- 
ings," added  the  graver  and  more  thoughtful  Cora.  "  In 
truth,  we  have  a  little  wondered  why  you  should  so  rigidly 
absent  yourself  from  a  place  where  the  gratitude  of  the 
daughters  might  receive  the  support  of  a  parent's  thanks." 

"Your  father  himself  could  tell  you,  that  though  absent 
from  your  presence,  I  have  not  been  altogether  forgetful  of 
your  safety,"  returned  the  young  man;  "the  mastery  of  yon- 
der village  of  huts,"  pointing  to  the  neighboring  entrenched 
camp,  "has  been  keenly  disputed;  and  he  who  holds  it  is 
sure  to  be  possessed  of  this  fort,  and  that  which  it  contains. 
My  days  and  my  nights  have  all  been  passed  there  since  we 
separated,  because  I  thought  that  duty  called  me  thither. 
But,"  he  added  with  an  air  of  chagrin,  which  he  endeavored, 
though  unsuccessfully,  to  conceal,  "  had  I  been  aware  that 
what  I  then  believed  a  soldier's  conduct  could  be  so  con- 
strued, shame  would  have  been  added  to  the  list  of  reasons." 

"Heyward! — Duncan!"  exclaimed  Alice,  bending  for- 
ward to  read  his  half-averted  countenance,  until  a  lock  of 
her  golden  hair  rested  on  her  flushed  cheek,  and  nearly  con- 
cealed the  tear  that  had  started  to  her  eye;  "did  I  think 
this  idle  tongue  of  mine  had  pained  you,  I  would  silence  it 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  1 89 

forever.  Cora  can  say,  if  Cora  would,  how  justly  we  have 
prized  your  services,  and  how  deep — I  had  almost  said,  how 
fervent — is  our  gratitude." 

"And  will  Cora  attest  the  truth  of  this?  "  cried  Duncan, 
suffering  the  cloud  to  be  chased  from  his  countenance  by  a 
smile  of  open  pleasure.  "What  says  our  graver  sister? 
Will  she  find  an  excuse  for  the  neglect  of  the  knight  in  the 
duty  of  a  soldier?  " 

Cora  made  no  immediate  answer,  but  turned  her  face  tow- 
ards the  water,  as  if  looking  on  the  sheet  of  the  Horican. 
When  she  did  bend  her  dark  eyes  on  the  young  man,  they 
were  yet  filled  with  an  expression  of  anguish  that  at  once 
drove  every  thought  but  that  of  kind  solicitude  from  his 
mind. 

"You  are  not  well,  dearest  Miss  Munro!  "  he  exclaimed; 
"we  have  trifled  while  you  are  in  suffering." 

"  Tis  nothing,"  she  answered,  refusing  his  offered  sup- 
port with  feminine  reserve.  "That  I  cannot  see  the  sunny 
side  of  the  picture  of  life,  like  this  artless  but  ardent  enthu- 
siast," she  added,  laying  her  hand  lightly,  but  affectionately, 
on  the  arm  of  her  sister,  "  is  the  penalty  of  experience,  and, 
perhaps,  the  misfortune  of  my  nature.  See,"  she  continued, 
as  if  determined  to  shake  off  infirmity,  in  a  sense  of  duty ; 
"  look  around  you,  Major  Heyward,  and  tell  me  what  a 
prospect  is  this  for  the  daughter  of  a  soldier  whose  greatest 
happiness  is  his  honor  and  his  military  renown." 

"  Neither  ought  nor  shall  be  tarnished  by  circumstances 
over  which  he  has  had  no  control,"  Duncan  warmly  replied. 
"  But  your  words  recall  me  to  my  own  duty.  I  go  now  to 
your  gallant  father,  to  hear  his  determination  in  matters  of 
the  last  moment  to  the  defence.  God  bless  you  in  every 
fortune,  noble — Cora — I  may,  and  must  call  you."  She 
frankly  gave  him  her  hand,  though  her  lip  quivered,  and 
her  cheeks  gradually  became  of  an  ashy  paleness.  "  In 
every  fortune,  I  know  you  will  be  an  ornament  and  honor 
to  your  sex.     Alice,  adieu" — his  tone  changed  from  admi- 


I9O  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

ration  to  tenderness — "  adieu,  Alice;  we  shall  soon  meet 
again;  as  conquerors,  I  trust,  and  amid  rejoicings!  " 

Without  waiting  for  an  answer  from  either,  the  young 
man  threw  himself  down  the  grassy  steps  of  the  bastion, 
and  moving  rapidly  across  the  parade,  he  was  quickly  in 
the  presence  of  their  father.  Munro  was  pacing  his  narrow 
apartment  with  a  disturbed  air  and  gigantic  strides  as  Dun- 
can entered. 

"You  have  anticipated  my  wishes,  Major  Heyward,"  he 
said;  "  I  was  about  to  request  this  favor." 

"  I  am  sorry  to  see,  sir,  that  the  messenger  I  so  warmly 
recommended  has  returned  in  custody  of  the  French !  I 
hope  there  is  no  reason  to  distrust  his  fidelity?  " 

"The  fidelity  of  '  The  Long  Rifle'  is  well  known  to  me," 
returned  Munro,  "and  is  above  suspicion;  though  his  usual 
good  fortune  seems,  at  last,  to  have  failed.  Montcalm  has 
got  him,  and  with  the  accursed  politeness  of  his  nation,  he 
has  sent  him  in  with  a  doleful  tale,  of  '  knowing  how  I  val- 
ued the  fellow,  he  could  not  think  of  retaining  him.'  A 
Jesuitical  way,  that,  Major  Duncan  Heyward,  of  telling  a 
man  of  his  misfortunes!  " 

"  But  the  general  and  his  succor? — " 

"  Did  ye  look  to  the  south  as  ye  entered,  and  could  ye 
not  see  them?"  said  the  old  soldier,  laughing  bitterly. 
"Hoot!  hoot!  you're  an  impatient  boy,  sir,  and  cannot  give 
the  gentlemen  leisure  for  their  march!  " 

"They  are  coming  then?  The  scout  has  said  as 
much?  " 

"When?  and  by  what  path?  for  the  dunce  has  omitted 
to  tell  me  this.  There  is  a  letter,  it  would  seem,  too;  and 
that  is  the  only  agreeable  part  of  the  matter.  For  the  cus- 
tomary attentions  of  your  Marquis  of  Montcalm — I  warrant 
me,  Duncan,  that  he  of  Lothian  would  buy  a  dozen  such 
marquisates — but,  if  the  news  of  the  letter  were  bad,  the 
gentility  of  this  French  monsieur  would  certainly  compel 
him  to  let  us  know  it." 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  1 89 

forever.  Cora  can  say,  if  Cora  would,  how  justly  we  have 
prized  your  services,  and  how  deep — I  had  almost  said,  how 
fervent — is  our  gratitude." 

"And  will  Cora  attest  the  truth  of  this?  "  cried  Duncan, 
suffering  the  cloud  to  be  chased  from  his  countenance  by  a 
smile  of  open  pleasure.  "What  says  our  graver  sister? 
Will  she  find  an  excuse  for  the  neglect  of  the  knight  in  the 
duty  of  a  soldier?  " 

Cora  made  no  immediate  answer,  but  turned  her  face  tow- 
ards the  water,  as  if  looking  on  the  sheet  of  the  Horican. 
When  she  did  bend  her  dark  eyes  on  the  young  man,  they 
were  yet  filled  with  an  expression  of  anguish  that  at  once 
drove  every  thought  but  that  of  kind  solicitude  from  his 
mind. 

"You  are  not  well,  dearest  Miss  Munro!  "  he  exclaimed; 
"  we  have  trifled  while  you  are  in  suffering." 

"  'Tis  nothing,"  she  answered,  refusing  his  offered  sup- 
port with  feminine  reserve.  "  That  I  cannot  see  the  sunny 
side  of  the  picture  of  life,  like  this  artless  but  ardent  enthu- 
siast," she  added,  laying  her  hand  lightly,  but  affectionately, 
on  the  arm  of  her  sister,  "  is  the  penalty  of  experience,  and, 
perhaps,  the  misfortune  of  my  nature.  See,"  she  continued, 
as  if  determined  to  shake  off  infirmity,  in  a  sense  of  duty; 
"  look  around  you,  Major  Heyward,  and  tell  me  what  a 
prospect  is  this  for  the  daughter  of  a  soldier  whose  greatest 
happiness  is  his  honor  and  his  military  renown." 

"  Neither  ought  nor  shall  be  tarnished  by  circumstances 
over  which  he  has  had  no  control,"  Duncan  warmly  replied. 
"  But  your  words  recall  me  to  my  own  duty.  I  go  now  to 
your  gallant  father,  to  hear  his  determination  in  matters  of 
the  last  moment  to  the  defence.  God  bless  you  in  every 
fortune,  noble — Cora — I  may,  and  must  call  you."  She 
frankly  gave  him  her  hand,  though  her  lip  quivered,  and 
her  cheeks  gradually  became  of  an  ashy  paleness.  "  In 
every  fortune,  I  know  you  will  be  an  ornament  and  honor 
to  your  sex.     Alice,  adieu" — his  tone  changed  from  admi- 


I9O  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

ration  to  tenderness — "  adieu,  Alice;  we  shall  soon  meet 
again;  as  conquerors,  I  trust,  and  amid  rejoicings!  " 

Without  waiting  for  an  answer  from  either,  the  young 
man  threw  himself  down  the  grassy  steps  of  the  bastion, 
and  moving  rapidly  across  the  parade,  he  was  quickly  in 
the  presence  of  their  father.  Munro  was  pacing  his  narrow 
apartment  with  a  disturbed  air  and  gigantic  strides  as  Dun- 
can entered. 

"  You  have  anticipated  my  wishes,  Major  Heyward,"  he 
said;  "  I  was  about  to  request  this  favor." 

"  I  am  sorry  to  see,  sir,  that  the  messenger  I  so  warmly 
recommended  has  returned  in  custody  of  the  French !  I 
hope  there  is  no  reason  to  distrust  his  fidelity?  " 

"  The  fidelity  of  '  The  Long  Rifle '  is  well  known  to  me," 
returned  Munro,  "  and  is  above  suspicion ;  though  his  usual 
good  fortune  seems,  at  last,  to  have  failed.  Montcalm  has 
got  him,  and  with  the  accursed  politeness  of  his  nation,  he 
has  sent  him  in  with  a  doleful  tale,  of  '  knowing  how  I  val- 
ued the  fellow,  he  could  not  think  of  retaining  him.'  A 
Jesuitical  way,  that,  Major  Duncan  Heyward,  of  telling  a 
man  of  his  misfortunes!  " 

"  But  the  general  and  his  succor? — " 

"  Did  ye  look  to  the  south  as  ye  entered,  and  could  ye 
not  see  them?"  said  the  old  soldier,  laughing  bitterly. 
"Hoot!  hoot!  you're  an  impatient  boy,  sir,  and  cannot  give 
the  gentlemen  leisure  for  their  march !  " 

"They  are  coming  then?  The  scout  has  said  as 
much  ?  " 

"When?  and  by  what  path?  for  the  dunce  has  omitted 
to  tell  me  this.  There  is  a  letter,  it  would  seem,  too;  and 
that  is  the  only  agreeable  part  of  the  matter.  For  the  cus- 
tomary attentions  of  your  Marquis  of  Montcalm — I  warrant 
me,  Duncan,  that  he  of  Lothian  would  buy  a  dozen  such 
marquisates — but,  if  the  news  of  the  letter  were  bad,  the 
gentility  of  this  French  monsieur  would  certainly  compel 
him  to  let  us  know  it." 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  IO,I 

"  He  keeps  the  letter,  then,  while  he  releases  the  mes- 


senger 


?  » 


"  Ay,  that  does  he,  and  all  for  the  sake  of  what  you  call 
your  '  bonhommie.'  I  would  venture,  if  the  truth  was  known, 
the  fellow's  grandfather  taught  the  noble  science  of  danc- 
ing." 

"But  what  says  the  scout?  he  has  eyes  and  ears,  and  a 
tongue :  what  verbal  report  does  he  make  ?  " 

"Oh!  sir,  he  is  not  wanting  in  natural  organs,  and  he  is 
free  to  tell  all  that  he  has  seen  and  heard.  The  whole 
amount  is  this;  there  is  a  fort  of  his  majesty's  on  the  banks 
of  the  Hudson,  called  Edward,  in  honor  of  his  gracious 
highness  of  York,  you'll  know;  and  it  is  well  filled  with 
armed  men,  as  such  a  work  should  be." 

"  But  was  there  no  movement,  no  signs  of  any  intention 
to  advance  to  our  relief?  " 

"  There  were  the  morning  and  evening  parades ;  and  when 
one  of  the  provincial  loons — you'll  know,  Duncan,  you're 
half  a  Scotsman  yourself — when  one  of  them  dropped  his 
powder  over  his  porretch,  if  it  touched  the  coals,  it  just 
burnt!"  Then  suddenly  changing  his  bitter,  ironical  man- 
ner, to  one  more  grave  and  thoughtful,  he  continued;  "and 
yet  there  might,  and  must  be,  something  in  that  letter  which 
it  would  be  well  to  know!  " 

"Our  decision  should  be  speedy,"  said  Duncan,  gladly 
availing  himself  of  this  change  of  humor,  to  press  the  more 
important  objects  of  their  interview;  "I  cannot  conceal 
from  you,  sir,  tnat  the  camp  will  not  be  much  longer  ten- 
able; and  I  am  sorry  to  add,  that  things  appear  no  better 
in  the  fort; — more  than  half  the  guns  are  bursted." 

"And  how  should  it  be  otherwise?  Some  were  fished 
from  the  bottom  of  the  lake;  some  have  been  rusting  in  the 
woods  since  the  discovery  of  the  country ;  and  some  were 
never  guns  at  all — mere  privateersmen's  playthings!  Do 
you  think,  sir,  you  can  have  Woolwich  Warren  in  the  midst 
of  a  wilderness,  three  thousand  miles  from  Great  Britain?  " 


I92  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

"The  walls  are  crumbling  about  our  ears,  and  provisions 
begin  to  fail  us,"  continued  Heyward,  without  regarding 
this  new  burst  of  indignation ;  "  even  the  men  show  signs 
of  discontent  and  alarm." 

"  Major  Heyward,"  said  Munro,  turning  to  his  youthful 
associate  with  the  dignity  of  his  years  and  superior  rank; 
"I  should  have  served  his  majesty  for  half  a  century,  and 
earned  these  gray  hairs,  in  vain,  were  I  ignorant  of  all  you 
say,  and  of  the  pressing  nature  of  our  circumstances;  still, 
there  is  everything  due  to  the  honor  of  the  king's  arms  and 
something  to  ourselves.  While  there  is  hope  of  succor,  this 
fortress  will  I  defend,  though  it  be  to  be  done  with  pebbles 
gathered  on  the  lake  shore.  It  is  a  sight  of  the  letter,  there- 
fore, that  we  want,  that  we  may  know  the  intentions  of  the  man 
the  Earl  of  Loudon  has  left  among  us  as  his  substitute  ?  " 

"And  can  I  be  of  service  in  the  matter?  " 

"  Sir,  you  can;  the  Marquis  of  Montcalm  has,  in  addition 
to  his  other  civilities,  invited  me  to  a  personal  interview 
between  the  works  and  his  own  camp;  in  order,  as  he  says, 
to  impart  some  additional  information.  Now,  I  think  it 
would  not  be  wise  to  show  any  undue  solicitude  to  meet 
him,  and  I  would  employ  you,  an  officer  of  rank,  as  my  sub- 
stitute; for  it  would  but  ill  comport  with  the  honor  of  Scot- 
land to  let  it  be  said  one  of  her  gentlemen  was  outdone  in 
civility  by  a  native  of  any  other  country  on  earth." 

Without  assuming  the  supererogatory  task  of  entering 
into  a  discussion  of  the  comparative  merits  of  national  cour- 
tesy, Duncan  cheerfully  assented  to  supply  the  place  of  the 
veteran  in  the  approaching  interview.  A  long  and  confiden- 
tial communication  now  succeeded,,  during  which  the  young 
man  received  some  additional  insight  into  his  duty,  from 
the  experience  and  native  acuteness  of  his  commander,  and 
then  the  former  took  his  leave. 

As  Duncan  could  only  act  as  the  representative  of  the 
commandant  of  the  fort,  the  ceremonies  which  should  have 
accompanied  a  meeting  between  the  heads  of  the  adverse 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  I93 

forces  were  of  course  dispensed  with.  The  truce  still  ex- 
isted, and  with  a  roll  and  beat  of  the  drum,  and  covered  by 
a  little  white  flag,  Duncan  left  the  sally-port,  within  ten 
minutes  after  his  instructions  were  ended.  He  was  received 
by  the  French  officer  in  advance  with  the  usual  formalities, 
and  immediately  accompanied  to  a  distant  marquee  of  the 
renowned  soldier  who  led  the  forces  of  France. 

The  general  of  the  enemy  received  the  youthful  messen- 
ger, surrounded  by  his  principal  officers,  and  by  a  swarthy 
band  of  the  native  chiefs,  who  had  followed  him  to  the  field, 
with  the  warriors  of  their  several  tribes.  Heyward  paused 
short,  when,  in  glancing  his  eyes  rapidly  over  the  dark 
group  of  the  latter,  he  beheld  the  malignant  countenance  of 
Magua,  regarding  him  with  the  calm  but  sullen  attention 
which  marked  the  expression  of  that  subtle  savage.  A 
slight  exclamation  of  surprise  even  burst  from  the  lips  of 
the  young  man ;  but,  instantly  recollecting  his  errand,  and 
the  presence  in  which  he  stood,  he  suppressed  every  appear- 
ance of  emotion,  and  turned  to  the  hostile  leader,  who  had 
already  advanced  a  step  to  receive  him. 

The  Marquis  of  Montcalm  was,  at  the  period  of  which  we 
write,  in  the  flower  of  his  age,  and,  it  may  be  added,  in  the 
zenith  of  his  fortunes.  But,  even  in  that  enviable  situation, 
he  was  affable,  and  distinguished  as  much  for  his  attention 
to  the  forms  of  courtesy,  as  for  that  chivalrous  courage 
which,  only  two  short  years  afterward,  induced  him  to  throw 
away  his  life  on  the  plains  of  Abraham.  Duncan,  in  turn- 
ing his  eyes  from  the  malign  expression  of  Magua,  suffered 
them  to  rest  with  pleasure  on  the  smiling  and  polished  fea- 
tures, and  the  noble  military  air,  of  the  French  general. 

"Monsieur,"  said  the  latter,  "  j'ai  beaucoup  de  plaisir  a 
— bah! — oh  est  cet  interprete?  " 

"  Je  crois,  monsieur,  qu'il  ne  sera  pas  necessaire,"  Hey- 
ward modestly  replied;  "je  parle  un  peu  Francais." 

"Ah!  j'en  suis  bien  aise,"  said  Montcalm,  taking  Dun- 
can familiarly  by  the  arm,  and   leading  him  deep   into  the 
*3 


194  TRE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

marquee,  a  little  out  of  ear-shot;  "  je  de'teste  ces  fripons-la; 
on  ne  sait  jamais  sur  quel  pied  on  est  avec  eux.  Eh,  bien! 
monsieur,"  he  continued,  still  speaking  in  French;  "though 
I  should  have  been  proud  of  receiving  your  commandant,  I 
am  very  happy  that  he  has  seen  proper  to  employ  an  officer 
so  distinguished,  and  who,  I  am  sure,  is  so  amiable,  as 
yourself." 

Duncan  bowed  low,  pleased  with  the  compliment,  in  spite 
of  a  most  heroic  determination  to  suffer  no  artifice  to  allure 
him  into  forgetfulness  of  the  interest  of  his  prince;  and 
Montcalm,  after  a  pause  of  a  moment,  as  if  to  collect  his 
thoughts,  proceeded — 

"Your  commandant  is  a  brave  man,  and  well  qualified  to 
repel  my  assault.  Mais,  monsieur,  is  it  not  time  to  begin 
to  take  more  counsel  of  humanity,  and  less  of  your  courage? 
The  one  as  strongly  characterizes  the  hero  as  the  other." 

"  We  consider  the  qualities  as  inseparable,"  returned 
Duncan,  smiling;  "but  while  we  find  in  the  vigor  of  your 
excellency  every  motive  to  stimulate  the  one,  we  can,  as  yet, 
see  no  particular  call  for  the  exercise  of  the  other." 

Montcalm,  in  his  turn,  slightly  bowed,  but  it  was  with 
the  air  of  a  man  too  practised  to  remember  the  language  of 
flattery.     After  musing  a  moment,  he  added — 

"  It  is  possible  my  glasses  have  deceived  me,  and  that 
your  works  resist  our  cannon  better  than  I  had  supposed. 
You  know  our  force  ?  " 

"  Our  accounts  vary,"  said  Duncan,  carelessly ;  "  the 
highest,  however,  has  not  exceeded  twenty  thousand  men." 

The  Frenchman  bit  his  lip,  and  fastened  his  eyes  keenly 
on  the  other  as  if  to  read  his  thoughts;  then,  with  a  readi- 
ness peculiar  to  himself,  he  continued,  as  if  assenting  to  the 
truth  of  an  enumeration  which  quite  doubled  his  army: — 

"  It  is  a  poor  compliment  to  the  vigilance  of  us  soldiers, 
monsieur,  that,  do  what  we  will,  we  never  can  conceal  our 
numbers.  If  it  were  to  be  done  at  all,  one  would  believe  it 
might  succeed  in  these  woods.     Though  you  think  it  too 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  195 

soon  to  listen  to  the  calls  of  humanity,"  he  added,  smiling 
archly,  "I  may  be  permitted  to  believe  that  gallantry  is  not 
forgotten  by  one  so  young  as  yourself.  The  daughters  of 
the  commandant,  I  learn,  have  passed  into  the  fort  since  it 
was  invested? " 

"It  is  true,  monsieur;  but,  so  far  from  weakening  our 
efforts,  they  set  us  an  example  of  courage  in  their  own  for- 
titude. Were  nothing  but  resolution  necessary  to  repel  so 
accomplished  a  soldier  as  M.  de  Montcalm,  I  would  gladly 
trust  the  defence  of  William  Henry  to  the  elder  of  those 
ladies." 

"  We  have  a  wise  ordinance  in  our  Salique  laws,  which 
says,  '  the  crown  of  France  shall  never  degrade  the  lance  to 
the  distaff,'  "  said  Montcalm,  drily,  and  with  a  little  hauteur; 
but  instantly  adding,  with  his  former  frank  and  easy  air, 
"  as  all  the  nobler  qualities  are  hereditary,  I  can  easily 
credit  you;  though,  as  I  said  before,  courage  has  its  limits, 
and  humanity  must  not  be  forgotten.  I  trust,  monsieur,  you 
come  authorized  to  treat  for  the  surrender  of  the  place?  " 

"  Has  your  excellency  found  our  defence  so  feeble  as  to 
believe  the  measure  necessary?  " 

"  I  should  be  sorry  to  have  the  defence  protracted  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  irritate  my  red  friends  there,"  continued 
Montcalm,  glancing  his  eyes  at  the  group  of  grave  and  at- 
tentive Indians,  without  attending  to  the  other's  question ; 
"I  find  it  difficult,  even  now,  to  limit  them  to  the  usages  of 
war." 

Heyward  was  silent;  for  a  painful  recollection  of  the 
dangers  he  had  so  recently  escaped  came  over  his  mind,  and 
recalled  the  images  of  those  defenceless  beings  who  had 
shared  in  all  his  sufferings. 

"  Ces  messieurs-lii,"  said  Montcalm,  following  up  the  ad- 
vantage which  he  conceived  he  had  gained,  "  are  most  for- 
midable when  baffled:  and  it  is  unnecessary  to  tell  you  with 
what  difficulty  they  are  restrained  in  their  anger.  Eh  bien, 
monsieur!  shall  we  speak  of  the  terms!  " 


I96  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

"  I  fear  your  excellency  has  been  deceived  as  to  the 
strength  of  William  Henry,  and  the  resources  of  its  gar- 
rison !  " 

"  I  have  not  sat  down  before  Quebec,  but  an  earthen 
work,  that  is  defended  by  twenty-three  hundred  gallant 
men,''  was  the  laconic  reply. 

"  Our  mounds  are  earthen,  certainly — nor  are  they  seated 
on  the  rocks  of  Cape  Diamond; — but  they  stand  on  that 
shore  which  proved  so  destructive  to  Dieskau  and  his  army. 
There  is  also  a  powerful  force  within  a  few  hours'  march  of 
us,  which  we  account  upon  as  part  of  our  means." 

"  Some  six  or  eight  thousand  men,"  returned  Montcalm, 
with  much  apparent  indifference,  "  whom  their  leader  wisely 
judges  to  be  safer  in  their  works  than  in  the  field." 

It  was  now  Heyward's  turn  to  bite  his  lip  with  vexation, 
as  the  other  so  coolly  alluded  to  a  force  which  the  young 
man  knew  to  be  overrated.  Both  mused  a  little  while  in 
silence,  when  Montcalm  renewed  the  conversation,  in  a  way 
that  showed  he  believed  the  visit  of  his  guest  was  solely  to 
propose  terms  of  capitulation.  On  the  other  hand,  Hey- 
ward  began  to  throw  sundry  inducements  in  the  way  of  the 
French  general,  to  betray  the  discoveries  he  had  made 
through  the  intercepted  letter.  The  artifice  of  neither,  how- 
ever, succeeded;  and  after  a  protracted  and  fruitless  inter- 
view, Duncan  took  his  leave,  favorably  impressed  with  an 
opinion  of  the  courtesy  and  talents  of  the  enemy's  captain, 
but  as  ignorant  of.  what  he  came  to  learn  as  when  he  ar- 
rived. Montcalm  followed  him  as  far  as  the  entrance  of  the 
marquee,  renewing  his  invitations  to  the  commandant  of  the 
fort  to  give  him  an  immediate  meeting  in  the  open  ground, 
between  the  two  armies. 

There  they  separated,  and  Duncan  returned  to  the  ad- 
vanced post  of  the  French,  accompanied  as  before;  whence 
he  instantly  proceeded  to  the  fort  and  to  the  quarters  of  his 
own  commander. 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  197 

CHAPTER    XVI. 

Edg. — Before  you  fight  the  battle,  ope  this  letter. 

Lear. 

Major  Heyward  found  Munro  attended  only  by  his 
daughters.  Alice  sate  upon  his  knee,  parting  the  grey  hairs 
on  the  forehead  of  the  old  man  with  her  delicate  fingers; 
and,  whenever  he  affected  to  frown  on  her  trifling,  appeas- 
ing his  assumed  anger  by  pressing  her  ruby  lips  fondly  on 
his  wrinkled  brow.  Cora  was  seated  nigh  them,  a  calm 
and  amused  looker-on ;  regarding  the  wayward  movements 
of  her  more  youthful  sister,  with  that  species  of  maternal 
fondness  which  characterized  her  love  for  Alice.  Not  only 
the  dangers  through  which  they  had  passed,  but  those  which 
still  impended  above  them,  appeared  to  be  momentarily  for- 
gotten, in  the  soothing  indulgence  of  such  a  family  meeting. 
It  seemed  as  if  they  had  profited  by  the  short  truce,  to  de- 
vote an  instant  to  the  purest  and  best  affections;  the 
daughters  forgetting  their  fears,  and  the  veteran  his  cares, 
in  the  security  of  the  moment.  Of  this  scene,  Duncan,  who 
in  his  eagerness  to  report  his  arrival  had  entered  unan- 
nounced, stood  many  moments  an  unobserved  and  a  de- 
lighted spectator.  But  the  quick  and  dancing  eyes  of  Alice 
soon  caught  a  glimpse  of  his  figure  reflected  from  a  glass, 
and  she  sprang  blushing  from  her  father's  knee,  exclaiming 
aloud, — 

"Major  Heyward!" 

"What  of  the  lad?  "  demanded  her  father;  "I  have  sent 
him  to  crack  a  little  with  the  Frenchman.  Ha!  sir,  you 
are  young,  and  you're  nimble !  Away  with  you,  ye  baggage ; 
as  if  there  were  not  troubles  enough  for  a  soldier,  without 
having  his  camp  filled  with  such  prattling  hussies  as  your- 
self!" 

Alice  laughingly  followed  her  sister,  who   instantly  led 


I98  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

the  way  from  an  apartment  where  she  perceived  their  pres- 
ence was  no  longer  desirable.  Munro,  instead  of  demand- 
ing the  result  of  the  young  man's  mission,  paced  the  room 
for  a  few  moments,  with  his  hands  behind  his  back,  and 
his  head  inclined  toward  the  floor,  like  a  man  lost  in 
thought.  At  length  he  raised  his  eyes,  glistening  with  a 
father's  fondness,  and  exclaimed — 

"  They  are  a  pair  of  excellent  girls,  Heyward,  and  such 
as  any  one  may  boast  of." 

"  You  are  not  now  to  learn  my  opinion  of  your  daughters, 
Colonel  Munro." 

"  True,  lad,  true,"  interrupted  the  impatient  old  man ; 
"you  were  about  opening  your  mind  more  fully  on  that 
matter  the  day  you  got  in ;  but  I  did  not  think  it  becoming 
in  an  old  soldier  to  be  talking  of  nuptial  blessings  and 
wedding  jokes  when  the  enemies  of  his  king  were  likely  to 
be  unbidden  guests  at  the  feast !  But  I  was  wrong,  Duncan, 
boy,  I  was  wrong  there ;  and  I  am  now  ready  to  hear  what 
you  have  to  say." 

"  Notwithstanding  the  pleasure  your  assurance  gives  me, 
dear  sir,  I  have,  just  now,  a  message  from  Montcalm " 

"  Let  the  Frenchman  and  all  his  host  go  to  the  devil, 
sir!  "  exclaimed  the  hasty  veteran.  "He  is  not  yet  master 
of  William  Henry,  nor  shall  he  ever  be,  provided  Webb 
proves  himself  the  man  he  should.  No,  sir!  thank  heaven, 
we  are  not  yet  in  such  a  strait  that  it  can  be  said  Munro  is 
too  much  pressed  to  discharge  the  little  domestic  duties  of 
his  own  family.  Your  mother  was  the  only  child  of  my 
bosom  friend,  Duncan ;  and  I'll  just  give  you  a  hearing, 
though  all  the  knights  of  St.  Louis  were  in  a  body  at  the 
sally-port,  with  the  French  saint  at  their  head,  craving  to 
speak  a  word  under  favor.  A  pretty  degree  of  knighthood, 
sir,  is  that  which  can  be  bought  with  sugar-hogsheads !  and 
then  your  two-penny  marquisates!  The  thistle  is  the  order 
for  dignity  and  antiquity;  the  veritable  'nemo  me  impune 
lacessit '  of  chivalry  t     Ye  had  ancestors    in  that  degree, 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  1 99 

Duncan,  and  they  were  an  ornament  to  the  nobles  of  Scot- 
land." 

Heyward,  who  perceived  that  his  superior  took  a  mali- 
cious pleasure  in  exhibiting  his  contempt  for  the  message  of 
the  French  general,  was  fain  to  humor  a  spleen  that  he 
knew  would  be  short-lived;  he,  therefore,  replied  with  as 
much  indifference  as  he  could  assume  on  such  a  subject — 

"  My  request,  as  you  know,  sir,  went  so  far  as  to  presume 
to  the  honor  of  being  your  son." 

"Ay,  boy,  you  found  words  to  make  yourself  very  plainly 
comprehended.  But,  let  me  ask  ye,  sir,  have  you  been  as 
intelligible  to  the  girl?  " 

"On  my  honor,  no,"  exclaimed  Duncan,  warmly;  "there 
would  have  been  an  abuse  of  a  confided  trust,  had  I  taken 
advantage  of  my  situation  for  such  a  purpose." 

"  Your  notions  are  those  of  a  gentleman,  Major  Heyward, 
and  well  enough  in  their  place.  But  Cora  Munro  is  a 
maiden  too  discreet,  and  of  a  mind  too  elevated  and  im- 
proved, to  need  the  guardianship  even  of  a  father." 

"Cora!" 

"Ay — Cora!  we  are  talking  of  your  pretensions  to  Miss 
Munro,  are  we  not,  sir?  " 

"I — I — I  was  not  conscious  of  having  mentioned  her 
name,"  said  Duncan,  stammering. 

"  And,  to  marry  whom,  then,  did  you  wish  my  consent, 
Major  Heyward?  "  demanded  the  old  soldier,  erecting  him- 
self in  the  dignity  of  offended  feeling. 

"You  have  another,  and  not  less  lovely  child." 

"Alice!  "  exclaimed  the  father  in  an  astonishment  equal 
to  that  with  which  Duncan  had  just  repeated  the  name  of 
her  sister. 

"  Such  was  the  direction  of  my  wishes,  sir." 

The  young  man  awaited  in  silence  the  result  of  the  ex- 
traordinary effect  produced  by  a  communication  which,  as 
it  now  appeared,  was  so  unexpected.  For  several  minutes 
Munro  paced  the  chamber  with  long  and  rapid  strides,  his 


200  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

rigid  features  working  convulsively,  and  every  faculty 
seemingly  absorbed  in  the  musings  of  his  own  mind.  At 
length,  he  paused  directly  in  front  of  Heyward,  and  riveting 
his  eyes  upon  those  of  the  other,  he  said,  with  a  lip  that 
quivered  violently, — 

"  Duncan  Heyward,  I  have  loved  you  for  the  sake  of  him 
whose  blood  is  in  your  veins;  I  have  loved  you  for  your 
own  good  qualities;  and  I  have  loved  you,  because  I 
thought  you  would  contribute  to  the  happiness  of  my  child. 
But  all  this  love  would  turn  to  hatred,  were  I  assured  that 
what  I  so  much  apprehend  is  true." 

"God  forbid  that  any  act  or  thought  of  mine  should  lead 
to  such  a  change!"  exclaimed  the  young  man,  whose  eye 
never  quailed  under  the  penetrating  look  it  encountered. 
Without  adverting  to  the  impossibility  of  the  other's  com- 
prehending those  feelings  which  were  hid  in  his  own  bosom, 
Munro  suffered  himself  to  be  appeased  by  the  unaltered 
countenance  he  met,  and  with  a  voice  sensibly  softened,  he 
continued — 

"  You  would  be  my  son,  Duncan,  and  you're  ignorant  of 
the  history  of  the  man  you  wish  to  call  your  father.  Sit  ye 
down,  young  man,  and  I  will  open  to  you  the  wounds  of  a 
seared  heart,  in  as  few  words  as  may  be  suitable." 

Ity  this  time,  the  message  of  Montcalm  was  as  much  for- 
gotten by  him  who  bore  it  as  by  the  man  for  whose  ears  it 
was  intended.  Each  drew  a  chair,  and  while  the  veteran 
communed  a  few  moments  with  his  own  thoughts,  appar- 
ently in  sadness,  the  youth  suppressed  his  impatience  in  a 
look  and  attitude  of  respectful  attention.  At  length  the 
former  spoke — 

"You'll  know,  already,  Major  Heyward,  that  my  family 
was  both  ancient  and  honorable,"  commenced  the  Scots- 
man; "though  it  might  not  altogether  be  endowed  with 
that  amount  of  wealth  that  should  correspond  with  its  de- 
gree. I  was,  may  be,  such  an  one  as  yourself  when  I 
plighted  my  faith  to  Alice  Graham:  the  only  child  of  a 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  201 

neighboring  laird  of  some  estate.  But  the  connection  was 
disagreeable  to  her  father,  on  more  accounts  than  my 
poverty.  I  did  therefore  what  an  honest  man  should — re- 
stored the  maiden  her  troth,  and  departed  the  country  in  the 
service  of  my  king.  I  had  seen  many  regions,  and  had  shed 
much  blood  in  different  lands,  before  duty  called  me  to  the 
Islands  of  the  West  Indies.  There  it  was  my  lot  to  form  a 
connection  with  one  who  in  time  became  my  wife,  and  the 
mother  of  Cora.  She  was  the  daughter  of  a  gentleman  of 
those  isles,  by  a  lady  whose  misfortune  it  was,  if  you  will," 
said  the  old  man,  proudly,  "  to  be  descended,  remotely,  from 
that  unfortunate  class  who  are  so  basely  enslaved  to  admin- 
ister to  the  wants  of  a  luxurious  people.  Ay,  sir,  that  is  a 
curse  entailed  on  Scotland  by  her  unnatural  union  with  a 
foreign  and  trading  people.  But  could  I  find  a  man  among 
them  who  would  dare  to  reflect  on  my  child,  he  should  feel 
the  weight  of  a  father's  anger !  Ha !  Major  Heyward,  you 
are  yourself  born  at  the  south,  where  these  unfortunate 
beings  are  considered  of  a  race  inferior  to  your  own." 

"  'Tis  most  unfortunately  true,  sir,"  said  Duncan,  unable 
any  longer  to  prevent  his  eyes  from  sinking  to  the  floor  in 
embarrassment. 

"And  you  cast  it  on  my  child  as  a  reproach!  You  scorn 
to  mingle  the  blood  of  the  Heywards  with  one  so  degraded 
— lovely  and  virtuous  though  she  be?"  fiercely  demanded 
the  jealous  parent. 

"  Heaven  protect  me  from  a  prejudice  so  unworthy  of  my 
reason!"  returned  Duncan,  at  the  same  time  conscious  of 
such  a  feeling,  and  that  as  deeply  rooted  as  if  it  had  been 
ingrafted  in  his  nature.  "  The  sweetness,  the  beauty,  the 
witchery  of  your  younger  daughter,  Colonel  Munro,  might 
explain  my  motives,  without  imputing  to  me  this  injustice." 

"  Ye  are  right,  sir,"  returned  the  old  man,  again  changing 
his  tones  to  those  of  gentleness,  or  rather  softness ;  "  the 
girl  is  the  image  of  what  her  mother  was  at  her  years,  and 
before  she  had  become  acquainted  with  grief.     When  death 


202  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

deprived  me  of  my  wife  I  returned  to  Scotland,  enriched  by 
the  marriage;  and  would  you  think  it,  Duncan!  the  suffer- 
ing angel  had  remained  in  the  heartless  state  of  celibacy 
twenty  long  years,  and  that  for  the  sake  of  a  man  who  could 
forget  her!  She  did  more,  sir;  she  overlooked  my  want  of 
faith,  and  all  difficulties  being  now  removed,  she  took  me 
for  her  husband." 

"And  became  the  mother  of  Alice?  "  exclaimed  Duncan, 
with  an  eagerness  that  might  have  proved  dangerous  at  a 
moment  when  the  thoughts  of  Munro  were  less  occupied 
than  at  present. 

"  She  did,  indeed,"  said  the  old  man,  "  and  dearly  did  she 
pay  for  the  blessing  she  bestowed.  But  she  is  a  saint  in 
heaven,  sir;  and  it  ill  becomes  one  whose  foot  rests  on  the 
grave  to  mourn  a  lot  so  blessed.  I  had  her  but  a  single 
year,  though;  a  short  term  of  happiness  for  one  who  had 
seen  her  youth  fade  in  hopeless  pining." 

There  was  something  so  commanding  in  the  distress  of 
the  old  man,  that  Heyward  did  not  dare  to  venture  a  sylla- 
ble of  consolation.  Munro  sat  utterly  unconscious  of  the 
other's  presence,  his  features  exposed  and  working  with  the 
anguish  of  his  regrets,  while  heavy  tears  fell  from  his  eyes, 
and  rolled  unheeded  from  his  cheeks  to  the  floor.  At  length 
he  moved,  as  if  suddenly  recovering  his  recollection;  when 
he  arose,  and  taking  a  single  turn  across  the  room,  he  ap- 
proached his  companion  with  an  air  of  military  grandeur, 
and  demanded — 

"Have  you  not,  Major  Heyward,  some  communication 
that  I  should  hear  from  the  Marquis  de  Montcalm  ?  " 

Duncan  started,  in  his  turn,  and  immediately  commenced, 
in  an  embarrassed  voice,  the  half-forgotten  message.  It  is 
unnecessary  to  dwell  upon  the  evasive,  though  polite  man- 
ner, with  which  the  French  general  had  eluded  every  attempt 
of  Heyward  to  worm  from  him  the  purport  of  the  communi- 
cation he  had  proposed  making,  or  on  the  decided  though 
still  polished  message,  by  which  he  now  gave  his  enemy  to 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  203 

understand,  that  unless  he  chose  to  receive  it  in  person,  he 
should  not  receive  it  at  all.  As  Munro  listened  to  the  detail 
of  Duncan,  the  excited  feelings  of  the  father  gradually  gave 
way  before  the  obligations  of  his  station,  and  when  the  other 
was  done,  he  saw  before  him  nothing  but  the  veteran,  swell- 
ing with  the  wounded  feelings  of  a  soldier, 

"  You  have  said  enough,  Major  Heyward !  "  exclaimed  the 
angry  old  man ;  "  enough  to  make  a  volume  of  commentary 
on  French  civility.  Here  has  this  gentleman  invited  me  to 
a  conference,  and  when  I  send  him  a  capable  substitute,  for 
ye're  all  that,  Duncan,  though  your  years  are  but  few,  he 
answers  me  with  a  riddle." 

"  He  may  have  thought  less  favorably  of  the  substitute, 
my  dear  sir;  and  you  will  remember  that  the  invitation, 
which  he  now  repeats,  was  to  the  commandant  of  the  works, 
and  not  to  his  second." 

"Well,  sir,  is  not  a  substitute  clothed  with  all  the  power 
and  dignity  of  him  who  grants  the  commission?  He  wishes 
to  confer  with  Munro!  Faith,  sir,  I  have  much  inclination 
to  indulge  the  man,  if  it  should  only  be  to  let  him  behold 
the  firm  countenance  we  maintain  in  spite  of  his  numbers 
and  his  summons.  There  might  be  no  bad  policy  in  such  a 
stroke,  young  man." 

Duncan,  who  believed  it  of  the  last  importance  that  they 
should  speedily  come  at  the  contents  of  the  letter  borne  by 
the  scout,  gladly  encouraged  this  idea. 

"  Without  doubt,  he  could  gather  no  confidence  by  witness- 
ing our  indifference,"  he  said. 

"You  never  said  truer  word.  I  could  wish,  sir,  that  he 
would  visit  the  works  in  open  day,  and  in  the  form  of  a 
storming  party :  that  is  the  least  failing  method  of  proving 
the  countenance  of  an  enemy,  and  would  be  far  preferable  to 
the  battering  system  he  has  chosen.  The  beauty  and  man- 
liness of  warfare  has  been  much  deformed,  Major  Heyward, 
by  the  arts  of  your  Monsieur  Vauban.  Our  ancestors  were 
far  above  such  scientific  cowardice!  " 


204  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

"  It  may  be  very  true,  sir;  but  we  are  now  obliged  to  re- 
pel art  by  art.  What  is  your  pleasure  in  the  matter  of  the 
interview?  " 

"  I  will  meet  the  Frenchman,  and  that  without  fear  or  de- 
lay;  promptly,  sir,  as  becomes  a  servant  of  my  royal  master. 
Go,  Major  Heyward,  and  give  them  a  nourish  of  the  music; 
and  send  out  a  messenger  to  let  them  know  who  is  coming. 
We  will  follow  with  a  small  guard,  for  such  respect  is  due 
to  one  who  holds  the  honor  of  his  king  in  keeping;  and 
hark'ee,  Duncan,"  he  added,  in  a  half  whisper,  though  they 
were  alone,  "  it  may  be  prudent  to  have  some  aid  at  hand, 
in  case  there  should  be  treache  y  at  the  bottom  of  it  all." 

The  young  man  availed  himself  of  this  order  to  quit  the 
apartment;  and,  as  the  day  was  fast  coming  to  a  close,  he 
hastened,  without  delay,  to  make  the  necessary  arrangements. 
A  very  few  minutes  only  were  necessary  to  parade  a  few 
files,  and  to  dispatch  an  orderly  with  a  flag  to  announce  the 
approach  of  the  commandant  of  the  fort.  When  Duncan 
had  done  both  these  he  led  the  guard  to  the  sally-port,  near 
which  he  found  his  superior  ready,  waiting  his  appearance. 
As  soon  as  the  usual  ceremonials  of  a  military  departure 
were  observed,  the  veteran  and  his  more  youthful  compan- 
ion left  the  fortress,  attended  by  the  escort. 

They  had  proceeded  only  a  hundred  yards  from  the  works, 
when  the  little  array  which  attended  the  French  general  to 
the  conference,  was  seen  issuing  from  the  hollow  way,  which 
formed  the  bed  of  a  brook  that  ran  between  the  batteries  of 
the  besiegers  and  the  fort.  From  the  moment  that  Munro 
left  his  own  works  to  appear  in  front  of  his  enemies,  his  air 
had  been  grand,  and  his  step  and  countenance  highly  mili- 
tary. The  instant  he  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  white  plume 
that  waved  in  the  hat  of  Montcalm,  his  eye  lighted,  and  age 
no  longer  appeared  to  possess  any  influence  over  his  vast 
and  still  muscular  person. 

"  Speak  to  the  boys  to  be  watchful,  sir,"  he  said,  in  an 
undertone,  to  Duncan;  "and  to  look  well  to  their  flints  and 


THE   LAST    OF   THE   MOHICANS.  205 

steel,  for  one  is  never  safe  with  a  servant  of  these  Louis ;  at 
the  same  time,  we  will  show  them  the  front  of  men  in  deep 
security.     Ye'll  understand  me,  Major  Hey  ward!  " 

He  was  interrupted  by  the  clamor  of  a  drum  from  the  ap- 
proaching Frenchmen,  which  was  immediately  answered, 
when  each  party  pushed  an  orderly  in  advance,  bearing  a 
white  flag,  and  the  wary  Scotsman  halted,  with  his  guard 
close  at  his  back.  As  soon  as  this  slight  salutation  had 
passed,  Montcalm  moved  toward  them  with  a  quick  but 
graceful  step,  baring  his  head  to  the  veteran,  and  dropping 
his  spotless  plume  nearly  to  the  earth  in  courtesy.  If  the 
air  of  Munro  was  more  commanding  and  manly,  it  wanted 
both  the  ease  and  insinuating  polish  of  that  of  the  French- 
man. Neither  spoke  for  a  few  moments,  each  regarding  the 
other  with  curious  and  interested  eyes.  Then,  as  became 
his  superior  rank  and  the  nature  of  the  interview,  Montcalm 
broke  the  silence.  After  uttering  the  usual  words  of  greet- 
ing, he  turned  to  Duncan,  and  continued,  with  a  smile  of 
recognition,  speaking  always  in  French — 

"I  am  rejoiced,  monsieur,  that  you  have  given  us  the 
pleasure  of  your  company  on  this  occasion.  There  will  be 
no  necessity  to  employ  an  ordinary  interpreter ;  for,  in  your 
hands,  I  feel  the  same  security  as  if  I  spoke  your  language 
myself." 

Duncan  acknowledged  the  compliment,  when  Montcalm, 
turning  to  his  guard,  which,  in  imitation  of  that  of  their 
enemies,  pressed  close  upon  him,  continued— 

"En  arriere,  mes  enfants — il  fait  chaud;  retirez-vous  un 
peu." 

Before  Major  Heyward  would  imitate  this  proof  of  confi- 
dence, he  glanced  his  eyes  around  the  plain,  and  beheld 
with  uneasiness  the  numerous  dusky  groups  of  savages,  who 
looked  out  from  the  margin  of  the  surrounding  woods,  curi- 
ous spectators  of  the  interview. 

"  Monsieur  de  Montcalm  will  readily  acknowledge  the 
difference  in  our  situation,"  he  said,  with  some  embarrass- 


206  THE   LAST   OF   THE    MOHICANS. 

ment,  pointing  at  the  same  time  toward  those  dangerous 
foes,  who  were  to  be  seen  in  almost  every  direction.  "  Were 
we  to  dismiss  our  guard,  we  should  stand  here  at  the  mercy 
of  our  enemies." 

"Monsieur,  you  have  the  plighted  faith  of  '  un  gentil- 
homme  Francais,'  for  your  safety,"  returned  Montcalm, 
laying  his  hand  impressively  on  his  heart;  "  it  should  suf- 
fice." 

"It  shall.  Fall  back,"  Duncan  added  to  the  officer  who 
led  the  escort;  "fall  back,  sir,  beyond  hearing,  and  wait 
for  orders." 

Munro  witnessed  this  movement  with  manifest  uneasiness ; 
nor  did  he  fail  to  demand  an  instant  explanation. 

"  Is  it  not  our  interest,  sir,  to  betray  no  distrust?  "  retorted 
Duncan.  "  Monsieur  de  Montcalm  pledges  his  word  for 
our  safety,  and  I  have  ordered  the  men  to  withdraw  a  little, 
in  order  to  prove  how  much  we  depend  on  his  assurance." 

"  It  may  be  all  right,  sir,  but  I  have  no  overweening  reli- 
ance on  the  faith  of  these  marquesses,  or  marquis,  as  they 
call  themselves.  Their  patents  of  nobility  are  too  common 
to  be  certain  that  they  bear  the  seal  of  true  honor." 

"  You  forget,  dear  sir,  that  we  confer  with  an  officer,  dis- 
tinguished alike  in  Europe  and  America,  for  his  deeds. 
From  a  soldier  of  his  reputation  we  can  have  nothing  to 
apprehend." 

The  old  man  made  a  gesture  of  resignation,  though  his 
rigid  features  still  betrayed  his  obstinate  adherence  to  a 
distrust,  which  he  derived  from  a  sort  of  hereditary  contempt 
of  his  enemy,  rather  than  from  any  present  signs  which 
might  warrant  so  uncharitable  a  feeling.  Montcalm  waited 
patiently  until  this  little  dialogue  in  demi-voice  was  ended, 
when  he  drew  nigher,  and  opened  the  subject  of  their  con- 
ference. 

"  I  have  solicited  this  interview  from  your  superior,  mon- 
sieur," he  said,  "because  I  believe  he  will  allow  himself  to 
be  persuaded,  that  he  has  already  done  everything  which  is 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  20/> 

necessary  for  the  honor  of  his  prince,  and  will  now  listen  to 
the  admonitions  of  humanity.  I  will  forever  bear  testimony 
that  his  resistance  has  been  gallant,  and  was  continued  as 
long  as  there  was  hope." 

When  this  opening  was  translated  to  Munro,  he  answered 
with  dignity,  but  with  sufficient  courtesy — ■ 

"  However  I  may  prize  such  testimony  from  Monsieur 
Montcalm,  it  will  be  more  valuable  when  it  shall  be  better 
merited." 

The  French  general  smiled,  as  Duncan  gave  him  the  pur- 
port of  this  reply,  and  observed — 

"  What  is  now  so  freely  accorded  to  approved  courage, 
may  be  refused  to  useless  obstinacy.  Monsieur  would  wish 
to  see  my  camp,  and  witness,  for  himself,  our  numbers,  and 
the  impossibility  of  his  resisting  them  with  success?  " 

"  I  know  that  the  King  of  France  is  well  served,"  returned 
the  unmoved  Scotsman,  as  soon  as  Duncan  ended  his  trans- 
lation; "but  my  own  royal  master  has  as  many  and  as  faith- 
ful troops." 

"  Though  not  at  hand,  fortunately  for  us,"  said  Montcalm, 
without  waiting,  in  his  ardor,  for  the  interpreter.  "  There 
is  a  destiny  in  war,  to  which  a  brave  man  knows  how  to  sub- 
mit with  the  same  courage  that  he  faces  his  foes." 

"  Had  I  been  conscious  that  Monsieur  Montcalm  was  mas- 
ter of  the  English,  I  should  have  spared  myself  the  trouble 
of  so  awkward  a  translation,"  said  the  vexed  Duncan,  dryly ; 
remembering  instantly  his  recent  by-play  with  Munro. 

"  Your  pardon,  monsieur,"  rejoined  the  Frenchman,  suf- 
fering a  slight  color  to  appear  on  his  dark  cheek.  "  There 
is  a  vast  difference  between  understanding  and  speaking  a 
foreign  tongue;  you  will,  therefore,  please  to  assist  me  still." 
Then  after  a  short  pause,  he  added,  "  These  hills  afford  us 
every  opportunity  of  reconnoitring  your  works,  messieurs, 
and  I  am  possibly  as  well  acquainted  with  their  weak  con- 
dition as  you  can  be  yourselves." 

"  Ask  the  French  general  if  his  glasses  can  reach  to  the 


208  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

Hudson,"  said  Munro,  proudly;  "and  if  he  knows  when 
and  where  to  expect  the  army  of  Webb." 

"  Let  General  Webb  be  his  own  interpreter,"  returned  the 
politic  Montcalm,  suddenly  extending  an  open  letter  toward 
Munro,  as  he  spoke;  "You  will  there  learn,  monsieur,  that 
his  movements  are  not  likely  to  prove  embarrassing  to  my 
army." 

The  veteran  seized  the  offered  paper,  without  waiting  for 
Duncan  to  translate  the  speech,  and  with  an  eagerness  that 
betrayed  how  important  he  deemed  its  contents.  As  his  eye 
passed  hastily  over  the  words,  his  countenance  changed 
from  its  look  of  military  pride  to  one  of  deep  chagrin :  his 
lip  began  to  quiver;  and,  suffering  the  paper  to  fall  from 
his  hand,  his  head  dropped  upon  his  chest,  like  that  of  a 
man  whose  hopes  were  withered  at  a  single  blow.  Duncan 
caught  the  letter  from  the  ground,  and  without  apology  for 
the  liberty  he  took,  he  read  at  a  glance  its  cruel  purport. 
Their  common  superior,  so  far  from  encouraging  them  to 
resist,  advised  a  speedy  surrender,  urging  in  the  plainest 
language,  as  a  reason,  the  utter  impossibility  of  his  sending 
a  single  man  to  their  rescue. 

"Here  is  no  deception!  "  exclaimed  Duncan,  examining 
the  billet  both  inside  and  out;  "this  is  the  signature  of 
Webb,  and  must  be  the  captured  letter." 

"The  man  has  betrayed  me!"  Munro  at  length  bitterly 
exclaimed:  "he  has  brought  dishonor  to  the  door  of  one 
where  disgrace  was  never  before  known  to  dwell,  and  shame 
has  he  heaped  heavily  on  my  grey  hairs." 

"  Say  not  so,"  cried  Duncan ;  "  we  are  yet  masters  of  the 
fort,  and  of  our  honor.  Let  us  then  sell  our  lives  at  such  a 
rate  as  shall  make  our  enemies  believe  the  purchase  too 
dear." 

"  Boy,  I  thank  thee,"  exclaimed  the  old  man,  rousing 
himself  from  his  stupor;  "you  have,  for  once,  reminded 
Munro  of  his  duty.  We  will  go  back  and  dig  our  graves 
behind  those  ramparts." 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  2CX) 

"Messieurs,"  said  Montcalm,  advancing  toward  them  a 
step,  in  generous  interest,  "you  little  know  Louis  de  St. 
Ve'ran,  if  you  believe  him  capable  of  profiting  by  this  letter 
to  humble  brave  men,  or  to  build  up  a  dishonest  reputation 
for  himself.     Listen  to  my  terms  before  you  leave  me." 

"  What  says  the  Frenchman  ?  "  demanded  the  veteran, 
sternly;  "does  he  make  a  merit  of  having  captured  a  scout, 
with  a  note  from  head-quarters?  Sir,  he  had  better  raise 
this  siege,  to  go  and  sit  down  before  Edward  if  he  wishes  to 
frighten  his  enemy  with  words." 

Duncan  explained  the  other's  meaning. 

"  Monsieur  de  Montcalm,  we  will  hear  you,"  the  veteran 
added,  more  calmly,  as  Duncan  ended. 

"To  retain  the  fort  is  now  impossible,"  said  his  liberal 
enemy :  "  it  is  necessary  to  the  interests  of  my  master  that  it 
should  be  destroyed;  but,  as  for  yourselves,  and  your  brave 
comrades,  there  is  no  privilege  dear  to  a  soldier  that  shall 
be  denied." 

"  Our  colors  ?  "  demanded  Hey  ward. 

"  Carry  them  to  England,  and  show  them  to  your  king." 

"  Our  arms?  " 

"  Keep  them ;  none  can  use  them  better." 

"Our  march;  the  surrender  of  the  place?  " 

"  Shall  all  be  done  in  a  way  most  honorable  to  yourselves." 

Duncan  now  turned  to  explain  these  proposals  to  his  com- 
mander, who  heard  him  with  amazement,  and  a  sensibility 
that  was  deeply  touched  by  so  unusual  and  unexpected  gen- 
erosity. 

"Go  you,  Duncan,"  he  said;  "go  with  this  marquess,  as 
indeed  marquess  he  should  be;  go  to  his  marque'e,  and  ar- 
range it  all.  I  have  lived  to  see  two  things  in  my  old  age, 
that  never  did  I  expect  to  behold.  An  Englishman  afraid 
to  support  a  friend,  and  a  Frenchman  too  honest  to  profit 
by  his  advantage." 

So  saying,  the  veteran  again  dropped  his  head  to  his 
chest,  and  returned  slowly  toward  the  fort,  exhibiting,  by 
14 


2IO         THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

the  dejection  of  his  air,  to  the  anxious  garrison,  a  harbinger 
of  evil  tidings. 

From  the  shock  of  this  unexpected  blow  the  haughty  feel- 
ings of  Munro  never  recovered;  but  from  that  moment  there 
commenced  a  change  in  his  determined  character,  which 
accompanied  him  to  a  speedy  grave.  Duncan  remained  to 
settle  the  terms  of  the  capitulation.  He  was  seen  to  re- 
enter the  works  during  the  first  watches  of  the  night,  and 
immediately  after  a  private  conference  with  the  command- 
ant, to  leave  them  again.  It  was  then  openly  announced, 
that  hostilities  must  cease — Munro  having  signed  a  treaty, 
by  which  the  place  was  to  be  yielded  to  the  enemy,  with  the 
morning;  the  garrison  to  retain  their  arms,  their  colors,  and 
their  baggage,  and  consequently,  according  to  military  opin 
ion,  their  honor. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


Weave  we  the  woof.     The  thread  is  spun. 
The  web  is  wove.     The  work  is  done. 

Gray. 

The  hostile  armies,  which  lay  in  the  wilds  of  the  Horican, 
passed  the  night  of  the  ninth  of  August,  1757,  much  in  the 
manner  they  would  had  they  encountered  on  the  fairest  field 
of  Europe.  While  the  conquered  were  still,  sullen,  and  de- 
jected, the  victors  triumphed.  But  there  are  limits,  alike, 
to  grief  and  joy;  and  long  before  the  watches  of  the  morn- 
ing came,  the  stillness  of  those  boundless  woods  was  only 
broken  by  a  gay  call  from  some  exulting  young  Frenchman 
of  the  advanced  pickets,  or  a  menacing  challenge  from  the 
fort,  which  sternly  forbade  the  approach  of  any  hostile  foot- 
steps before  the  stipulated  moment.  Even  these  occasional 
threatening  sounds  ceased  to  be  heard  in  that  dull  hour 
which  precedes  the  day,  at  which  period  a  listener  might 
have  sought  in  vain  any  evidence  of  the  presence  of  those 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  211 

armed  powers  that  then  slumbered  on  the  shores  of  the 
"holy  lake." 

It  was  during  these  moments  of  deep  silence,  that  the 
canvas  which  concealed  the  entrance  to  a  spacious  marquee 
in  the  French  encampment  was  shoved  aside,  and  a  man 
issued  from  beneath  the  drapery  into  the  open  air.  He  was 
enveloped  in  a  cloak  that  might  have  been  intended  as  a 
protection  from  the  chilling  damps  of  the  woods,  but  which 
served  equally  well  as  a  mantle,  to  conceal  his  person.  He 
was  permitted  to  pass  the  grenadier,  who  watched  over  the 
slumbers  of  the  French  commander,  without  interruption, 
the  man  making  the  usual  salute  which  betokens  military 
deference,  as  the  other  passed  swiftly  through  the  little  city 
of  tents,  in  the  direction  of  William  Henry.  Whenever  this 
unknown  individual  encountered  one  of  the  numberless  sen- 
tinels who  crossed  his  path,  his  answer  was  prompt,  and  as 
it  appeared  satisfactory;  for  he  was  uniformly  allowed  to 
proceed,  without  further  interrogation. 

With  the  exception  of  such  repeated,  but  brief  interrup- 
tions, he  had  moved,  silently,  from  the  centre  of  the  camp, 
to  its  most  advanced  outposts,  when  he  drew  nigh  the  sol- 
dier who  held  his  watch  nearest  to  the  works  of  the  enemy. 
As  he  approached  he  was  received  with  the  usual  chal- 
lenge— 

"Qui  vive?  " 

"  France,"  was  the  reply. 

"  Le  mot  d'ordre  ?  " 

"  La  victoire,"  said  the  other,  drawing  so  nigh  as  to  be 
heard  in  a  loud  whisper. 

"  C'est  bien,"  returned  the  sentinel,  throwing  his  musket 
from  the  charge  to  his  shoulder;  "  vous  vous  promenez  bien 
matin,  monsieur!  " 

"  II  est  necessaire  d'etre  vigilant,  mon  enfant,"  the  other 
observed,  dropping  a  fold  of  his  cloak,  and  looking  the  sol- 
dier close  in  the  face,  as  he  passed  him,  still  continuing  his 
way  toward  the  British  fortification.     The  man  started;  his 


212  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

arms  rattled  heavily,  as  he  threw  them  forward,  in  the  low- 
est and  most  respectful  salute;  and  when  he  had  again  re- 
covered his  piece,  he  turned  to  walk  his  post,  muttering 
between  his  teeth — 

"  II  faut  etre  vigilant,  en  verite!  je  crois  que  nous  avons 
la,  un  caporal  qui  ne  dort  jamais!  " 

The  officer  proceeded,  without  affecting  to  hear  the  words 
which  escaped  the  sentinel  in  his  surprise;  nor  did  he  again 
pause  until  he  had  reached  the  low  strand,  and  in  a  some- 
what dangerous  vicinity  to  the  western  water  bastion  of  the 
fort.  The  light  of  an  obscure  moon  was  just  sufficient  to 
render  objects,  though  dim,  perceptible  in  their  outlines. 
He,  therefore,  took  the  precaution  to  place  himself  against 
the  trunk  of  a  tree,  where  he  leaned  for  many  minutes,  and 
seemed  to  contemplate  the  dark  and  silent  mounds  of  the 
English  works  in  profound  attention.  His  gaze  at  the  ram- 
parts was  not  that  of  a  curious  or  idle  spectator;  but  his 
looks  wandered  from  point  to  point,  denoting  his  knowledge 
of  military  usages,  and  betraying  that  his  search  was  not  un- 
accompanied by  distrust.  At  length  he  appeared  satisfied: 
and  having  cast  his  eyes  impatiently  upward  toward  the 
summit  of  the  eastern  mountain,  as  if  anticipating  the  ap- 
proach of  the  morning,  he  was  in  the  act  of  turning  on  his 
footsteps,  when  a  light  sound  on  the  nearest  angle  of  the 
bastion  caught  his  ear  and  induced  him  to  remain. 

Just  then  a  figure  was  seen  to  approach  the  edge  of  the 
rampart,  where  it  stood,  apparently  contemplating  in  its 
turn  the  distant  tents  of  the  French  encampment.  Its  head 
was  then  turned  toward  the  east,  as  though  equally  anxious 
for  the  appearance  of  light,  when  the  form  leaned  against 
the  mound,  and  seemed  to  gaze  upon  the  glassy  expanse  of 
the  waters,  which,  like  a  submarine  firmament,  glittered 
with  its  thousand  mimic  stars.  The  melancholy  air,  the 
hour,  together  with  the  vast  frame  of  the  man  who  thus 
leaned,  in  musing,  against  the  English  ramparts,  left  no 
doubt  as  to  his  person,  in  the  mind  of  the  observant  spec- 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  213 

iator.  Delicacy,  no  less  than  prudence,  now  urged  him  to 
retire ;  and  he  had  moved  cautiously  round  the  body  of  the 
tree  for  that  purpose,  when  another  sound  drew  his  attention, 
and  once  more  arrested  his  footsteps.  It  was  a  low,  and 
almost  inaudible  movement  of  the  water,  and  was  succeeded 
by  a  grating  of  pebbles  one  against  the  other.  In  a  moment 
he  saw  a  dark  form  rise,  as  it  were  out  of  the  lake,  and  steal 
without  further  noise  to  the  land,  within  a  few  feet  of  the 
place  where  he  himself  stood.  A  rifle  next  slowly  rose  be- 
tween his  eyes  and  the  watery  mirror ;  but  before  it  could 
be  discharged  his  own  hand  was  on  the  lock. 

"Hugh!"  exclaimed  the  savage,  whose  treacherous  aim 
was  so  singularly  and  so  unexpectedly  interrupted. 

Without  making  any  reply,  the  French  officer  laid  his 
hand  on  the  shoulder  of  the  Indian,  and  led  him  in  pro- 
found silence  to  a  distance  from  the  spot,  where  their  subse- 
quent dialogue  might  have  proved  dangerous,  and  where  it 
seemed  that  one  of  them,  at  least,  sought  a  victim.  Then, 
throwing  open  his  cloak,  so  as  to  expose  his  uniform  and 
the  cross  of  St.  Louis  which  was  suspended  at  his  breast, 
Montcalm  sternly  demanded — 

"What  means  this!  does  not  my  son  know  that  the  hatchet 
is  buried  between  the  English  and  his  Canadian  father?  " 

"  What  can  the  Hurons  do  ?  "  returned  the  savage,  speak- 
ing also,  though  imperfectly,  in  the  French  language.  "  Not 
a  warrior  has  a  scalp,  and  the  pale-faces  make  friends!  " 

"  Ha !  Le  Renard  Subtil !  Methinks  this  is  an  excess  of 
zeal  for  a  friend  who  was  so  late  an  enemy!  How  many 
suns  have  set  since  Le  Renard  struck  the  war-post  of  the 
English?" 

"  Where  is  that  sun !  "  demanded  the  sullen  savage.  "  Be- 
hind the  hill ;  and  it  is  dark  and  cold.  But  when  he  comes 
again,  it  will  be  bright  and  warm.  Le  Subtil  is  the  sun  of 
his  tribe.  There  have  been  clouds,  and  many  mountains 
between  him  and  his  nation;  but  now  he  shines,  and  it  is 
a  clear  sky  !  " 


214  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

"That  Le  Renard  has  power  with  his  people,  I  well 
know,"  said  Montcalm;  "for  yesterday  he  hunted  for  their 
scalps,  and  to-day  they  hear  him  at  the  council  fire." 

"  Magua  is  a  great  chief." 

"  Let  him  prove  it,  by  teaching  his  nation  how  to  conduct 
toward  our  new  friends." 

"  Why  did  the  chief  of  the  Canadas  bring  his  young  men 
into  the  woods,  and  fire  his  cannon  at  the  earthen  house?  " 
demanded  the  subtle  Indian. 

"  To  subdue  it.  My  master  owns  the  land,  and  your  father 
was  ordered  to  drive  off  these  English  squatters.  They 
have  consented  to  go,  and  now  he  calls  them  enemies  no 
longer." 

"  'Tis  well.  Magua  took  the  hatchet  to  color  it  with 
blood.     It  is  now  bright;  when  it  is  red,  it  shall  be  buried." 

"But  Magua  is  pledged  not  to  sully  the  lilies  of  France. 
The  enemies  of  the  great  king  across  the  salt  lake  are  his 
enemies;  his  friends,  the  friends  of  the  Hurons." 

"Friends!"  repeated  the  Indian,  in  scorn.  "Let  his 
father  give  Magua  a  hand." 

Montcalm,  who  felt  that  his  influence  over  the  warlike 
tribes  he  had  gathered  was  to  be  maintained  by  concession 
rather  than  by  power,  complied  reluctantly  with  the  other's 
request.  The  savage  placed  the  finger  of  the  French  com- 
mander on  a  deep  scar  in  his  bosom,  and  then  exultingly 
demanded — 

"  Does  my  father  know  that?  " 

"What  warrior  does  not?  'tis  where  a  leaden  bullet  has 
cut." 

"And  this?  "  continued  the  Indian,  who  had  turned  his 
naked  back  to  the  other,  his  body  being  without  its  usual 
calico  mantle. 

"This! — my  son  has  been  sadly  injured,  here;  who  has 
done  this?  " 

"  Magua  slept  hard  in  the  English  wigwams,  and  the 
sticks  have  left  their  mark,"  returned  the  savage,  with  a  hoi- 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  215 

low  laugh,  which  did  not  conceal  the  fierce  temper  that 
nearly  choked  him.  Then  recollecting  himself,  with  sudden 
and  native  dignity,  he  added— "Go;  teach  your  young  men, 
it  is  peace.  Le  Renard  Subtil  knows  how  to  speak  to  a 
Huron  warrior." 

Without  deigning  to  bestow  further  words,  or  to  wait  for 
any  answer,  the  savage  cast  his  rifle  into  the  hollow  of  his 
arm,  and  moved  silently  through  the  encampment  toward 
the  woods  where  his  own  tribe  was  known  to  lie.  Every  few 
yards  as  he  proceeded  he  was  challenged  by  the  sentinels ; 
but  he  stalked  sullenly  onward,  utterly  disregarding  the 
summons  of  the  soldiers,  who  only  spared  his  life  because 
they  knew  the  air  and  tread  no  less  than  the  obstinate  dar- 
ing of  an  Indian. 

Montcalm  lingered  long  and  melancholy  on  the  strand, 
where  he  had  been  left  by  his  companion,  brooding  deeply 
on  the  temper  which  his  ungovernable  ally  had  just  discov- 
ered. Already  had  his  fair  fame  been  tarnished  by  one  hor- 
rid scene,  and  in  circumstances  fearfully  resembling  those 
under  which  he  now  found  himself.  As  he  mused  he  be- 
came keenly  sensible  of  the  deep  responsibility  they  assume, 
who  disregard  the  means  to  attain  their  end,  and  of  all  the 
danger  of  setting  in  motion  an  engine  which  it  exceeds  hu- 
man power  to  control.  Then  shaking  off  a  train  of  reflec- 
tions that  he  accounted  a  weakness  in  such  a  moment  of  tri- 
umph, he  retraced  his  steps  toward  his  tent,  giving  the  order 
as  he  passed,  to  make  the  signal  that  should  arouse  the  army 
from  its  slumbers. 

The  first  tap  of  the  French  drums  was  echoed  from  the 
bosom  of  the  fort,  and  presently  the  valley  was  filled  with 
the  strains  of  martial  music,  rising  long,  thrilling,  and 
lively  above  the  rattling  accompaniment.  The  horns  of  the 
victors  sounded  merry  and  cheerful  flourishes,  until  the  last 
laggard  of  the  camp  was  at  his  post;  but  the  instant  the 
British  fifes  had  blown  their  shrill  signal,  they  became 
mute.     In  the  meantime  the  day  had  dawned,  and  when  the 


2l6  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

line  of  the  French  army  was  ready  to  receive  its  general  the 
rays  of  a  brilliant  sun  were  glancing  along  the  glittering 
array.  Then  that  success,  which  was  already  so  well  known, 
was  officially  announced;  the  favored  band  who  were  se- 
lected to  guard  the  gates  of  the  fort  were  detailed,  and 
defiled  before  their  chief;  the  signal  of  their  approach  was 
given,  and  all  the  usual  preparations  for  a  change  of  masters 
were  ordered  and  executed  directly  under  the  guns  of  the 
contested  works. 

A  very  different  scene  presented  itself  within  the  lines  of 
the  Anglo-American  army.  As  soon  as  the  warning  signal 
was  given,  it  exhibited  all  the  signs  of  a  hurried  and  forced 
departure.  The  sullen  soldiers  shouldered  their  empty 
tubes  and  fell  into  their  places,  like  men  whose  blood  had 
been  heated  by  the  past  contest,  and  who  only  desired  the 
opportunity  to  revenge  an  indignity  which  was  still  wound- 
ing to  their  pride,  concealed  as  it  was  under  all  the  observ- 
ances of  military  etiquette.  Women  and  children  ran  from 
place  to  place,  some  bearing  the  scanty  remnants  of  their 
baggage,  and  others  searching  in  the  ranks  for  those  coun- 
tenances they  looked  up  to  for  protection. 

Munro  appeared  among  his  silent  troops  firm  but  dejected. 
It  was  evident  that  the  unexpected  blow  had  struck  deep 
into  his  heart,  though  he  struggled  to  sustain  his  misfortune 
with  the  port  of  a  man. 

Duncan  was  touched  at  the  quiet  and  impressive  exhibi- 
tion of  his  grief.  He  had  discharged  his  own  duty,  and  he 
now  pressed  to  the  side  of  the  old  man,  to  know  in  what 
particular  he  might  serve  him. 

"  My  daughters,"  was  the  brief  but  expressive  reply. 

"  Good  heavens !  are  not  arrangements  already  made  for 
their  convenience?  " 

"  To-day  I  am  only  a  soldier,  Major  Heyward,  "  said  the 
veteran.  "  All  that  you  see  here,  claim  alike  to  be  my  chil- 
dren." 

Duncan  had  heard  enough.      Without  losing  one  of  those 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  21"] 

moments  which  had  now  become  so  precious,  he  flew  toward 
the  quarters  of  Munro,  in  quest  of  the  sisters.  He  found 
them  on  the  threshold  of  the  low  edifice,  already  prepared 
to  depart,  and  surrounded  by  a  clamorous  and  weeping  as- 
semblage of  their  own  sex,  that  had  gathered  about  the 
place,  with  a  sort  of  instinctive  consciousness  that  it  was  the 
point  most  likely  to  be  protected.  Though  the  cheeks  of 
Cora  were  pale,  and  her  countenance  anxious,  she  had  lost 
none  of  her  firmness;  but  the  eyes  of  Alice  were  inflamed, 
and  betrayed  how  long  and  bitterly  she  had  wept.  They 
both,  however,  received  the  young  man  with  undisguised 
pleasure;  the  former,  for  a  novelty,  being  the  first  to  speak. 

"  The  fort  is  lost,"  she  said,  with  a  melancholy  smile ; 
"  though  our  good  name,  I  trust,  remains." 

"'Tis  brighter  than  ever.  But,  dearest  Miss  Munro,  it  is 
time  to  think  less  of  others,  and  to  make  some  provision  for 
yourself.  Military  usage — pride — that  pride  on  which  you 
so  much  value  yourself,  demands  that  your  father  and  I 
should  for  a  little  while  continue  with  the  troops.  Then 
where  to  seek  a  proper  protector  for  you  against  the  confu- 
sion and  chances  of  such  a  scene?  " 

"None  is  necessary,"  returned  Cora;  "who  will  dare  to 
injure  or  insult  the  daughter  of  such  a  father,  at  a  time  like 
this?" 

"  I  would  not  leave  you  alone,"  continued  the  youth,  look- 
ing about  him  in  a  hurried  manner,  "  for  the  command  of 
the  best  regiment  in  the  pay  of  the  king.  Remember,  our 
Alice  is  not  gifted  with  all  your  firmness,  and  God  only 
knows  the  terror  she  might  endure." 

"  You  may  be  right,"  Cora  replied,  smiling  again,  but  far 
more  sadly  than  before.  "  Listen ;  chance  has  already  sent 
us  a  friend  when  he  is  most  needed." 

Duncan  did  listen,  and  on  the  instant  comprehended  her 
meaning.  The  low  and  serious  sounds  of  the  sacred  music, 
so  well  known  to  the  eastern  provinces,  caught  his  ear,  and 
instantly  drew  him  to  an  apartment  in  an  adjacent  building, 


2l8  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

which  had  already  been  deserted  by  its  customary  tenants. 
There  he  found  David,  pouring  out  his  pious  feelings, 
through  the  only  medium  in  which  he  ever  indulged.  Dun- 
can waited,  until,  by  the  cessation  of  the  movement  of  the 
hand,  he  believed  the  strain  was  ended,  when,  by  touching 
his  shoulder,  he  drew  the  attention  of  the  other  to  himself, 
and  in  a  few  words  explained  his  wishes. 

"  Even  so,"  replied  the  single-minded  disciple  of  the  King 
of  Israel,  when  the  young  man  had  ended;  "I  have  found 
much  that  is  comely  and  melodious  in  the  maidens,  and  it 
is  fitting  that  we  who  have  consorted  in  so  much  peril,  should 
abide  together  in  peace.  I  will  attend  them,  when  I  have 
completed  my  morning  praise,  to  which  nothing  is  now 
wanting  but  the  doxology.  Wilt  thou  bear  a  part,  friend  ? 
The  metre  is  common,  and  the  tune  '  Southwell.' " 

Then,  extending  the  little  volume,  and  giving  the  pitch  of 
the  air  anew  with  considerate  attention,  David  recommenced 
and  finished  his  strains,  with  a  fixedness  of  manner  that  it 
was  not  easy  to  interrupt,  Heyward  was  fain  to  wait  until 
the  verse  was  ended;  when,  seeing  David  relieving  himself 
from  the  spectacles,  and  replacing  the  book,  he  continued — 

"  It  will  be  your  duty  to  see  that  none  dare  to  approach 
the  ladies  with  any  rude  intention,  or  to  offer  insult  or  taunt 
at  the  misfortune  of  their  brave  father.  In  this  task  you  will 
be  seconded  by  the  domestics  of  their  household." 

"  Even  so." 

"  It  is  possible  that  the  Indians  and  stragglers  of  the  en- 
emy may  intrude,  in  which  case  you  will  remind  them  of  the 
terms  of  the  capitulation,  and  threaten  to  report  their  con- 
duct to  Montcalm.     A  word  will  suffice." 

"  If  not,  I  have  that  here  which  shall,"  returned  David, 
exhibiting  his  book,  with  an  air  in  which  meekness  and 
confidence  were  singularly  blended.  "  Here  are  words 
which,  uttered,  or  rather  thundered,  with  proper  emphasis, 
and  in  measured  time,  shall  quiet  the  most  unruly  temper: — 

"  '  Why  rage  the  heathen  furiously  ! '  "  — 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  219 

"  Enough,"  said  Heyward,  interrupting  the  burst  of  his 
musical  invocation:  "  we  understand  each  other;  it  is  time 
that  we  should  now  assume  our  respective  duties." 

Gamut  cheerfully  assented,  and  together  they  sought  the 
females.  Cora  received  her  new  and  somewhat  extraordi- 
nary protector,  courteously  at  least;  and  even  the  pallid 
features  of  Alice  lighted  again  with  some  of  their  native 
archness  as  she  thanked  Heyward  for  his  care.  Duncan 
took  occasion  to  assure  them  he  had  done  the  best  that  cir- 
cumstances permitted,  and,  as  he  believed,  quite  enough  for 
the  security  of  their  feelings;  of  danger  there  was  none. 
He  then  spoke  gladly  of  his  intention  to  rejoin  them  the 
moment  he  had  led  the  advance  a  few  miles  toward  the  Hud- 
son, and  immediately  took  his  leave. 

By  this  time  the  signal  of  departure  had  been  given,  and 
the  head  of  the  English  column  was  in  motion.  The  sis- 
ters started  at  the  sound,  and  glancing  their  eyes  around, 
they  saw  the  white  uniforms  of  the  French  grenadiers,  who 
had  already  taken  possession  of  the  gates  of  the  fort.  At 
that  moment,  an  enormous  cloud  seemed  to  pass  suddenly 
above  their  heads,  and  looking  upward,  they  discovered  that 
they  stood  beneath  the  wide  folds  of  the  standard  of  France. 

"  Let  us  go,"  said  Cora;  "  this  is  no  longer  a  fit  place  for 
the  children  of  an  English  officer." 

Alice  clung  to  the  arm  of  her  sister,  and  together  they  left 
the  parade,  accompanied  by  the  moving  throng  that  sur- 
rounded them. 

As  they  passed  the  gates,  the  French  officers,  who  had 
learned  their  rank,  bowed  often  and  low,  forbearing,  how- 
ever,  to  intrude  those  attentions  which  they  saw,  with  pe- 
culiar tact,  might  not  be  agreeable.  As  every  vehicle  and 
each  beast  of  burden  was  occupied  by  the  sick  and  wounded, 
Cora  had  decided  to  endure  the  fatigues  of  a  foot  march, 
rather  than  interfere  with  their  comforts.  Indeed,  many  a 
maimed  and  feeble  soldier  was  compelled  to  drag  his  ex- 
hausted limbs  in  the  rear  of  the  columns,  for  the  want  of 


220  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

the  necessary  means  of  conveyance,  in  that  wilderness.  The 
whole,  however,  was  in  motion ;  the  weak  and  wounded, 
groaning,  and  in  suffering ;  their  comrades,  silent  and  sullen ; 
and  the  women  and  children  in  terror,  they  knew  not  of  what. 

As  the  confused  and  timid  throng  left  the  protecting 
mounds  of  the  fort,  and  issued  on  the  open  plain,  the  whole 
scene  was  at  once  presented  to  their  eyes.  At  a  little  dis- 
tance on  the  right,  and  somewhat  in  the  rear,  the  French 
army  stood  to  their  arms,  Montcalm  having  collected  his 
parties,  so  soon  as  his  guards  had  possession  of  the  works. 
They  were  attentive  but  silent  observers  of  the  proceedings 
of  the  vanquished,  failing  in  none  of  the  stipulated  military 
honors,  and  offering  no  taunt  or  insult,  in  their  success,  to 
their  less  fortunate  foes.  Living  masses  of  the  English,  to 
the  amount  in  the  whole  of  near  three  thousand,  were  mov- 
ing slowly  across  the  plain,  toward  the  common  centre,  and 
gradually  approached  each  other,  as  they  converged  to  the 
point  of  their  march,  a  vista  cut  through  the  lofty  trees, 
where  the  road  to  the  Hudson  entered  the  forest.  Along  the 
sweeping  borders  of  the  woods,  hung  a  dark  cloud  of  sav- 
ages, eying  the  passage  of  their  enemies,  and  hovering,  at  a 
distance,  like  vultures,  who  were  only  kept  from  stooping 
on  their  prey,  by  the  presence  and  restraint  of  a  superior 
army.  A  few  had  straggled  among  the  conquered  columns, 
where  they  stalked  in  sullen  discontent,  attentive,  though, 
as  yet,  passive  observers  of  the  moving  multitude. 

The  advance,  with  Heyward  at  its  head,  had  already 
reached  the  defile,  and  was  slowly  disappearing,  when  the  at- 
tention of  Cora  was  drawn  to  a  collection  of  stragglers,  by 
the  sounds  of  contention.  A  truant  provincial  was  paying 
the  forfeit  of  his  disobedience,  by  being  plundered  of  those 
very  effects  which  had  caused  him  to  desert  his  place  in  the 
ranks.  The  man  was  of  powerful  frame,  and  too  avaricious 
to  part  with  his  goods  without  a  struggle.  Individuals  from 
either  party  interfered;  the  one  side  to  prevent,  and  the 
other  to  aid  in  the  robbery     Voices  grew  loud  and  angry, 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS.  221 

and  a  hundred  savages  appeared,  as  it  were  by  magic,  where 
a  dozen  only  had  been  seen  a  minute  before.  It  was  then 
that  Cora  saw  the  form  of  Magua  gliding  among  his  coun- 
trymen, and  speaking  with  his  fatal  and  artful  eloquence. 
The  mass  of  women  and  children  stopped,  and  hovered  to- 
gether like  alarmed  and  fluttering  birds.  But  the  cupidity 
of  the  Indian  was  soon  gratified,  and  the  different  bodies 
again  moved  slowly  onward. 

The  savages  now  fell  back,  and  seemed  content  to  let  their 
enemies  advance  without  further  molestation.  But  as  the 
female  crowd  approached  them,  the  gaudy  colors  of  a  shawl 
attracted  the  eyes  of  a  wild  and  untutored  Huron.  He  ad- 
vanced to  seize  it,  without  the  least  hesitation.  The  woman, 
more  in  terror  than  through  love  of  the  ornament,  wrapped 
her  child  in  the  coveted  article,  and  folded  both  more  closely 
to  her  bosom.  Cora  was  in  the  act  of  speaking,  with  an  in- 
tent to  advise  the  woman  to  abandon  the  trifle,  when  the 
savage  relinquished  his  hold  of  the  shawl,  and  tore  the 
screaming  infant  from  her  arms.  Abandoning  everything 
to  the  greedy  grasp  of  those  around  her,  the  mother  darted, 
with  distraction  in  her  mien,  to  reclaim  her  child.  The 
Indian  smiled  grimly,  and  extended  one  hand,  in  sign  of  a 
willingness  to  exchange,  while  with  the  other  he  flourished 
the  babe  over  his  head,  holding  it  by  the  feet  as  if  to  en- 
hance the  value  of  the  ransom. 

"  Here — here — there — all — any — everything !  "  exclaimed 
the  breathless  woman ;  tearing  the  lighter  articles  of  dress 
from  her  person,  with  ill-directed  and  trembling  fingers: — 
"  take  all,  but  give  me  my  babe!  " 

The  savage  spurned  the  worthless  rags,  and  perceiving 
that  the  shawl  had  already  become  a  prize  to  another,  his 
bantering  but  sullen  smile  changing  to  a  gleam  of  ferocity, 
he  dashed  the  head  of  the  infant  against  a  rock,  and  cast  its 
quivering  remains  to  her  very  feet.  For  an  instant,  the 
mother  stood,  like  a  statue  of  despair,  looking  wildly  down 
at  the  unseemly  object,  which  had  so  lately  nestled  in  her 


222  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

bosom  and  smiled  in  her  face ;  and  then  she  raised  her  eyes 
and  countenance  toward  heaven,  as  if  calling  on  God  to 
curse  the  perpetrator  of  the  foul  deed.  She  was  spared  the 
sin  of  such  a  prayer;  for,  maddened  at  his  disappointment, 
and  excited  at  the  sight  of  blood,  the  Huron  mercifully 
drove  his  tomahawk  into  her  own  brain.  The  mother  sank 
under  the  blow,  and  fell,  grasping  at  her  child,  in  death, 
with  the  same  engrossing  love  that  had  caused  her  to  cherish 
it  when  living. 

At  that  dangerous  moment  Magua  placed  his  hands  to  his 
mouth,  and  raised  the  fatal  and  appalling  whoop.  The  scat- 
tered Indians  started  at  the  well-known  cry,  as  coursers 
bound  at  the  signal  to  quit  the  goal;  and,  directly,  there 
arose  such  a  yell  along  the  plain,  and  through  the  arches  of 
the  wood,  as  seldom  burst  from  human  lips  before.  They 
who  heard  it,  listened  with  a  curdling  horror  at  the  heart, 
little  inferior  to  that  dread  which  may  be  expected  to  attend 
the  blasts  of  the  final  summons. 

More  than  two  thousand  raving  savages  broke  from  the 
forest  at  the  signal,  and  threw  themselves  across  the  fatal 
plain  with  instinctive  alacrity.  We  shall  not  dwell  on  the 
revolting  horrors  that  succeeded.  Death  was  everywhere, 
and  in  his  most  terrific  and  disgusting  aspects.  Resistance 
only  served  to  inflame  the  murderers,  who  inflicted  their 
furious  blows  long  after  their  victims  were  beyond  the  power 
of  their  resentment.  The  flow  of  blood  might  be  likened  to 
the  outbreaking  of  a  torrent;  and  as  the  natives  became 
heated  and  maddened  by  the  sight,  many  among  them  even 
kneeled  to  the  earth,  and  drank  freely,  exultingly,  hellishly, 
of  the  crimson  tide. 

The  trained  bodies  of  the  troops  threw  themselves  quickly 
into  solid  masses,  endeavoring  to  awe  their  assailants  by  the 
imposing  appearance  of  a  military  front.  The  experiment 
in  some  measure  succeeded,  though  far  too  many  suffered 
their  unloaded  muskets  to  be  torn  from  their  hands,  in  the 
vain  hope  of  appeasing  the  savages. 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  22  3 

In  such  a  scene  none  had  leisure  to  note  the  fleeting  mo- 
ments. It  might  have  been  ten  minutes  (it  seemed  an  age), 
that  the  sisters  had  stood  riveted  to  one  spot,  horror-stricken, 
and  nearly  helpless.  When  the  first  blow  was  struck,  their 
screaming  companions  had  pressed  upon  them  in  a  body, 
rendering  flight  impossible;  and  now  that  fear  or  death  had 
scattered  most,  if  not  all,  from  around  them,  they  saw  no 
avenue  open,  but  such  as  conducted  to  the  tomahawks  of 
their  foes.  On  every  side  arose  shrieks,  groans,  exhorta- 
tions, and  curses.  At  this  moment,  Alice  caught  a  glimpse 
of  the  vast  form  of  her  father  moving  rapidly  across  the 
plain  in  the  direction  of  the  French  army.  He  was,  in  truth, 
proceeding  to  Montcalm,  fearless  of  every  danger,  to  claim 
the  tardy  escort,  for  which  he  had  before  conditioned.  Fifty 
glittering  axes  and  barbed  spears  were  offered  unheeded  at  his 
life,  but  the  savages  respected  his  rank  and  calmness,  even 
in  their  fury.  The  dangerous  weapons  were  brushed  aside 
by  the  still  nervous  arm  of  the  veteran,  or  fell  of  themselves, 
after  menacing  an  act  that  it  would  seem  no  one  had  courage 
to  perform.  Fortunately,  the  vindictive  Magua  was  searching 
for  his  victim  in  the  very  band  the  veteran  had  just  quitted. 

"Father — father — we  are  here!"  shrieked  Alice,  as  he 
passed,  at  no  great  distance,  without  appearing  to  heed  them. 
"  Come  to  us,  father,  or  we  die !  " 

The  cry  was  repeated,  and  in  terms  and  tones  that  might 
have  melted  a  heart  of  stone,  but  it  was  unanswered.  Once, 
indeed,  the  old  man  appeared  to  catch  the  sounds,  for  he 
paused  and  listened;  but  Alice  had  dropped  senseless  on 
the  earth,  and  Cora  had  sunk  at  her  side,  hovering  in  untir- 
ing tenderness  over  her  lifeless  form.  Munro  shook  his 
head  in  disappointment,  and  proceeded,  bent  on  the  high 
duty  of  his  station. 

"  Lady,"  said  Gamut,  who,  helpless  and  useless  as  he  was, 
had  not  yet  dreamed  of  deserting  his  trust,  "  it  is  the  jubilee 
of  the  devils,  and  this  is  not  a  meet  place  for  Christians  to 
tarry  in.     Let  us  up  and  fly." 


224  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

"Go,"  said  Cora,  still  gazing  at  her  unconscious  sister; 
"  save  thyself.     To  me  thou  canst  not  be  of  further  use." 

David  comprehended  the  unyielding  character  of  her  reso- 
lution, by  the  simple  but  expressive  gesture  that  accompanied 
her  words.  He  gazed,  for  a  moment,  at  the  dusky  forms 
that  were  acting  their  hellish  rites  on  every  side  of  him,  and 
his  tall  person  grew  more  erect,  while  his  chest  heaved,  and 
every  feature  swelled,  and  seemed  to  speak  with  the  power 
of  the  feelings  by  which  he  was  governed. 

"  If  the  Jewish  boy  might  tame  the  evil  spirit  of  Saul 
by  the  sound  of  his  harp,  and  the  words  of  sacred  song,  it 
may  not  be  amiss,"  he  said,  "  to  try  the  potency  of  music 
here." 

Then  raising  his  voice  to  its  highest  tones,  he  poured  out 
a  strain  so  powerful  as  to  be  heard  even  amid  the  din  of 
that  bloody  field.  More  than  one  savage  rushed  toward  them, 
thinking  to  rifle  the  unprotected  sisters  of  their  attire,  and 
bear  away  their  scalps;  but  when  they  found  this  strange 
and  unmoved  figure  riveted  to  his  post,  they  paused  to  lis- 
ten. Astonishment  soon  changed  to  admiration,  and  they 
passed  on  to  other,  and  less  courageous,  victims,  openly  ex- 
pressing their  satisfaction  at  the  firmness  with  which  the 
white  warrior  sang  his  death  song.  Encouraged  and  de- 
luded by  his  success,  David  exerted  all  his  powers  to  extend 
what  he  believed  so  holy  an  influence.  The  unwonted 
sounds  caught  the  ears  of  a  distant  savage,  who  flew  raging 
from  group  to  group,  like  one  who,  scorning  to  touch  the 
vulgar  herd,  hunted  for  some  victim  more  worthy  of  his  re- 
nown. It  was  Magua,  who  uttered  a  yell  of  pleasure  when 
he  beheld  his  ancient  prisoners  again  at  his  mercy. 

"  Come,"  he  said,  laying  his  soiled  hands  on  the  dress  of 
Cora,  "  the  wigwam  of  the  Huron  is  still  open.  Is  it  not 
better  than  this  place?  " 

"Away!  "  cried  Cora,  veiling  her  eyes  from  his  revolting 
aspect. 

The  Indian  laughed  tauntingly,  as  he  held  up  his  reeking 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  22  5 

hand,  and  answered — "  It  is  red,  but  it  comes  from  white 
veins! " 

"  Monster!  there  is  blood,  oceans  of  blood,  upon  thy  soul ; 
thy  spirit  has  moved  this  scene." 

"Magua  is  a  great  chief!  "  returned  the  exulting  savage: 
— "will  the  dark-hair  go  to  his  tribe?  " 

"Never!  strike,  if  thou  wilt,  and  complete  thy  revenge." 

He  hesitated  a  moment;  and  then  catching  the  light  and 
senseless  form  of  Alice  in  his  arms,  the  subtle  Indian  moved 
swiftly  across  the  plain  toward  the  woods. 

"Hold!"  shrieked  Cora,  following  wildly  on  his  foot- 
steps: "release  the  child!  wretch!  what  is  't  you  do?  " 

But  Magua  was  deaf  to  her  voice;  or  rather  he  knew  his 
power,  and  was  determined  to  maintain  it. 

"  Stay — lady — stay,"  called  Gamut,  after  the  unconscious 
Cora.  "  The  holy  charm  is  beginning  to  be  felt,  and  soon 
shalt  thou  see  this  horrid  tumult  stilled." 

Perceiving  that,  in  his  turn,  he  was  unheeded,  the  faith- 
ful David  followed  the  distracted  sister,  raising  his  voice 
again  in  sacred  song,  and  sweeping  the  air  to  the  measure, 
with  his  long  arm,  in  diligent  accompaniment.  In  this  man- 
ner they  traversed  the  plain,  through  the  flying,  the  wounded, 
and  the  dead.  The  fierce  Huron  was,  at  any  time,  suffi- 
cient for  himself  and  the  victim  that  he  bore;  though  Cora 
would  have  fallen,  more  than  once,  under  the  blows  of  her 
savage  enemies,  but  for  the  extraordinary  being  who  stalked 
in  her  rear,  and  who  now  appeared  to  the  astonished  natives 
gifted  with  the  protecting  spirit  of  madness. 

Magua,  who  knew  how  to  avoid  the  more  pressing  dan- 
gers, and  also  to  elude  pursuit,  entered  the  woods  through  a 
low  ravine,  where  he  quickly  found  the  Narragansetts,  which 
the  travellers  had  abandoned  so  shortly  before,  awaiting  his 
appearance,  in  custody  of  a  savage  as  fierce  and  as  malign 
in  his  expression  as  himself.  Laying  Alice  on  one  of  the 
horses,  he  made  a  sign  to  Cora  to  mount  the  other. 

Notwithstanding  the  horror  excited  by  the  presence  of  her 

*5 


226  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

captor,  there  was  a  present  relief  in  escaping  from  the  bloody 
scene  enacting  on  the  plain,  to  which  Cora  could  not  be 
altogether  insensible.  She  took  her  seat,  and  held  forth  her 
arms  for  her  sister,  with  an  air  of  entreaty  and  love  that 
even  the  Huron  could  not  deny.  Placing  Alice,  then,  on 
the  same  animal  with  Cora,  he  seized  the  bridle,  and  com- 
menced his  route  by  plunging  deeper  into  the  forest.  David, 
perceiving  that  he  was  left  alone,  utterly  disregarded  as  a  sub- 
ject too  worthless  even  to  destroy,  threw  his  long  limb  across 
the  saddle  of  the  beast  they  had  deserted,  and  made  such  prog- 
ress in  the  pursuit  as  the  difficulties  of  the  path  permitted. 

They  soon  began  to  ascend;  but  as  the  motion  had  a  ten- 
dency to  revive  the  dormant  faculties  of  her  sister,  the  atten- 
tion of  Cora  was  too  much  divided  between  the  tenderest 
solicitude  in  her  behalf,  and  in  listening  to  the  cries  which 
were  still  too  audible  on  the  plain,  to  note  the  direction  in 
which  they  journeyed.  When,  however,  they  gained  the  flat- 
tened surface  of  the  mountain-top,  and  approached  the  east- 
ern precipice,  she  recognized  the  spot  to  which  she  had  once 
before  been  led  under  the  more  friendly  auspices  of  the  scout. 
Here  Magua  suffered  them  to  dismount;  and,  notwithstand- 
ing their  own  captivity,  the  curiosity  which  seems  inseparable 
from  horror  induced  them  to  gaze  at  the  sickening  sight  below. 

The  cruel  work  was  still  unchecked.  On  every  side  the 
captured  were  flying  before  their  relentless  persecutors,  while 
the  armed  columns  of  the  Christian  king  stood  fast  in  an 
apathy  which  has  never  been  explained,  and  which  has  left 
an  immovable  blot  on  the  otherwise  fair  escutcheon  of  their 
leader.  Nor  was  the  sword  of  death  stayed  until  cupidity 
got  the  mastery  of  revenge.  Then,  indeed,  the  shrieks  of 
the  wounded  and  the  yells  of  their  murderers  grew  less  fre- 
quent, until  finally  the  cries  of  horror  were  lost  to  their  ear, 
or  were  drowned  in  the  loud,  long,  and  piercing  whoops  of 
the  triumphant  savages.* 

*  The  accounts  of  the  number  who  fell  in   this  unhappy  affair,  vary  between  five 
and  fifteen  hundred. 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  22  5 

hand,  and  answered — "  It  is  red,  but  it  comes  from  white 
veins!  " 

"  Monster!  there  is  blood,  oceans  of  blood,  upon  thy  soul; 
thy  spirit  has  moved  this  scene." 

"Magua  is  a  great  chief!  "  returned  the  exulting  savage: 
— "will  the  dark-hair  go  to  his  tribe?  " 

"Never!  strike,  if  thou  wilt,  and  complete  thy  revenge." 

He  hesitated  a  moment;  and  then  catching  the  light  and 
senseless  form  of  Alice  in  his  arms,  the  subtle  Indian  moved 
swiftly  across  the  plain  toward  the  woods. 

"Hold!"  shrieked  Cora,  following  wildly  on  his  foot- 
steps: "release  the  child!  wretch!  what  is 't  you  do?  " 

But  Magua  was  deaf  to  her  voice;  or  rather  he  knew  his 
power,  and  was  determined  to  maintain  it. 

"  Stay — lady — stay,"  called  Gamut,  after  the  unconscious 
Cora.  "The  holy  charm  is  beginning  to  be  felt,  and  soon 
shalt  thou  see  this  horrid  tumult  stilled." 

Perceiving  that,  in  his  turn,  he  was  unheeded,  the  faith- 
ful David  followed  the  distracted  sister,  raising  his  voice 
■again  in  sacred  song,  and  sweeping  the  air  to  the  measure, 
with  his  long  arm,  in  diligent  accompaniment.  In  this  man- 
ner they  traversed  the  plain,  through  the  flying,  the  wounded, 
and  the  dead.  The  fierce  Huron  was,  at  any  time,  suffi- 
cient' for  himself  and  the  victim  that  he  bore;  though  Cora 
woulo1  have  fallen,  more  than  once,  under  the  blows  of  her 
savage  enemies,  but  for  the  extraordinary  being  who  stalked 
in  her  rear,  and  who  now  appeared  to  the  astonished  natives 
gifted  with  the  protecting  spirit  of  madness. 

Magua,  who  knew  how  to  avoid  the  more  pressing  dan- 
gers, and  also  to  elude  pursuit,  entered  the  woods  through  a 
low  ravine,  where  he  quickly  found  the  Narragansetts,  which 
the  travellers  had  abandoned  so  shortly  before,  awaiting  his 
appearance,  in  custody  of  a  savage  as  fierce  and  as  malign 
in  his  expression  as  himself.  Laying  Alice  on  one  of  the 
horses,  he  made  a  sign  to  Cora  to  mount  the  other. 

Notwithstanding  the  horror  excited  by  the  presence  of  her 
15 


226  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

captor,  there  was  a  present  relief  in  escaping  from  the  bloody 
scene  enacting  on  the  plain,  to  which  Cora  could  not  be 
altogether  insensible.  She  took  her  seat,  and  held  forth  her 
arms  for  her  sister,  with  an  air  of  entreaty  and  love  that 
even  the  Huron  could  not  deny.  Placing  Alice,  then,  on 
the  same  animal  with  Cora,  he  seized  the  bridle,  and  com- 
menced his  route  by  plunging  deeper  into  the  forest.  David, 
perceiving  that  he  was  left  alone,  utterly  disregarded  as  a  sub- 
ject too  worthless  even  to  destroy,  threw  his  long  limb  across 
the  saddle  of  the  beast  they  had  deserted,  and  made  such  prog- 
ress in  the  pursuit  as  the  difficulties  of  the  path  permitted. 

They  soon  began  to  ascend;  but  as  the  motion  had  a  ten- 
dency to  revive  the  dormant  faculties  of  her  sister,  the  atten- 
tion of  Cora  was  too  much  divided  between  the  tenderest 
solicitude  in  her  behalf,  and  in  listening  to  the  cries  which 
were  still  too  audible  on  the  plain,  to  note  the  direction  in 
which  they  journeyed.  When,  however,  they  gained  the  flat- 
tened surface  of  the  mountain-top,  and  approached  the  east- 
ern precipice,  she  recognized  the  spot  to  which  she  had  once 
before  been  led  under  the  more  friendly  auspices  of  the  scout. 
Here  Magua  suffered  them  to  dismount;  and,  notwithstand- 
ing their  own  captivity,  the  curiosity  which  seems  inseparable 
from  horror  induced  them  to  gaze  at  the  sicken  ing  sight  below. 

The  cruel  work  was  still  unchecked.  On  every  side  the 
captured  were  flying  before  their  relentless  persecutors,  while 
the  armed  columns  of  the  Christian  king  stood  fast  in  an 
apathy  which  has  never  been  explained,  and  which  has  left 
an  immovable  blot  on  the  otherwise  fair  escutcheon  of  their 
leader.  Nor  was  the  sword  of  death  stayed  until  cupidity 
got  the  mastery  of  revenge.  Then,  indeed,  the  shrieks  of 
the  wounded  and  the  yells  of  their  murderers  grew  less  fre- 
quent, until  finally  the  cries  of  horror  were  lost  to  their  ear, 
or  were  drowned  in  the  loud,  long,  and  piercing  whoops  of 
the  triumphant  savages.* 

*  The  accounts  of  the  number  who  fell  in   this  unhappy  affair,  vary  between  five 
and  fifteen  hundred. 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  22? 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Why,  any  thing  : 
An  honorable  murderer,  if  you  will  ; 
For  nought  I  did  in  hate,  but  all  in  honor. 

Othello. 

The  bloody  and  inhuman  scene  rather  incidentally  men- 
tioned than  described  in  the  preceding  chapter,  is  conspicu- 
ous in  the  pages  of  colonial  history,  by  the  merited  title  of 
"  The  Massacre  of  William  Henry."  It  so  far  deepened  the 
stain  which  a  previous  and  very  similar  event  had  left  upon 
the  reputation  of  the  French  commander,  that  it  was  not  en- 
tirely erased  by  his  early  and  glorious  death.  It  is  now 
becoming  obscured  by  time ;  and  thousands,  who  know  that 
Montcalm  died  like  a  hero  on  the  plains  of  Abraham,  have 
yet  to  learn  how  much  he  was  deficient  in  that  moral  courage 
without  which  no  man  can  be  truly  great.  Pages  might  be 
written  to  prove,  from  this  illustrious  example,  the  defects 
of  human  excellence;  to  show  how  easy  it  is  for  generous 
sentiments,  high  courtesy,  and  chivalrous  courage,  to  lose 
their  influence  beneath  the  chilling  blight  of  selfishness, 
and  to  exhibit  to  the  world  a  man  who  was  great  in  all  the 
minor  attributes  of  character,  but  who  was  found  wanting 
when  it  became  necessary  to  prove  how  much  principle  is 
superior  to  policy.  But  the  task  would  exceed  our  preroga- 
tives; and,  as  history,  like  love,  is  so  apt  to  surround  her 
heroes  with  an  atmosphere  of  imaginary  brightness,  it  is 
probable  that  Louis  de  Saint  Veran  will  be  viewed  by  pos- 
terity only  as  the  gallant  defender  of  his  country,  while  his 
cruel  apathy  on  the  shores  of  the  Oswego  and  of  the  Hori- 
can  will  be  forgotten.  Deeply  regretting  this  weakness  on 
the  part  of  a  sister  muse,  we  shall  at  once  retire,  from  her 
sacred  precincts,  within  the  proper  limits  of  our  own  hum- 
ble vocation. 

The  third  day  from  the  capture  of  the  fort  was  drawing  to 


228  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

a  close,  but  the  business  of  the  narrative  must  still  detain 
the  reader  on  the  shores  of  the  "holy  lake."  When  last 
seen,  the  environs  of  the  works  were  filled  with  violence  and 
uproar.  They  were  now  possessed  by  stillness  and  death. 
The  blood-stained  conquerors  had  departed;  and  their 
camp,  which  had  so  lately  rung  with  the  merry  rejoicings  of 
a  victorious  army,  lay  a  silent  and  deserted  city  of  huts. 
The  fortress  was  a  smouldering  ruin ;  charred  rafters,  frag- 
ments of  exploded  artillery,  and  rent  mason-work,  covering 
its  earthen  mounds  in  confused  disorder. 

A  frightful  change  had  also  occurred  in  the  season.  The 
sun  had  hid  its  warmth  behind  an  impenetrable  mass  of 
vapor,  and  hundreds  of  human  forms,  which  had  blackened 
beneath  the  fierce  heats  of  August,  were  stiffening  in  their 
deformity,  before  the  blasts  of  a  premature  November.  The 
curling  and  spotless  mists,  which  had  been  seen  sailing 
above  the  hills  toward  the  north,  were  now  returning  in  an 
interminable  dusky  sheet,  that  was  urged  along  by  the  fury 
of  a  tempest.  The  crowded  mirror  of  the  Horican  was 
gone;  and,  in  its  place,  the  green  and  angry  waters  lashed 
the  shores,  as  if  indignantly  casting  back  its  impurities  to 
the  polluted  strand.  Still  the  clear  fountain  retained  a  por- 
tion of  its  charmed  influence,  but  it  reflected  only  the  som- 
bre gloom  that  fell  from  the  impending  heavens.  That 
humid  and  congenial  atmosphere  which  commonly  adorned 
the  view,  veiling  its  harshness,  and  softening  its  asperities, 
had  disappeared,  and  the  northern  air  poured  across  the 
waste  of  water  so  harsh  and  unmingled,  that  nothing  was 
left  to  be  conjectured  by  the  eye,  or  fashioned  by  the  fancy. 

The  fiercer  element  had  cropped  the  verdure  of  the  plain, 
which  looked  as  though  it  were  scathed  by  the  consuming 
lightning.  But,  here  and  there,  a  dark  green  tuft  rose  in 
the  midst  of  the  desolation;  the  earliest  fruits  of  a  soil  that 
had  been  fattened  with  human  blood.  The  whole  landscape, 
which,  seen  by  a  favoring  light,  and  in  a  genial  temperature, 
had  been  found  so  lovely,  appeared  now  like  some  pictured 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  229 

allegory  of  life,  in  which  objects  were  arrayed  in  their  harsh- 
est but  truest  colors,  and  without  the  relief  of  any  shadow- 
ing. 

The  solitary  and  arid  blades  of  grass  arose  from  the  pass- 
ing gusts  fearfully  perceptible;  the  bold  and  rocky  moun- 
tains were  too  distinct  in  their  barrenness,  and  the  eye  even 
sought  relief,  in  vain,  by  attempting  to  pierce  the  illimitable 
void  of  heaven,  which  was  shut  to  its  gaze  by  the  dusky 
sheet  of  ragged  and  driving  vapor. 

The  wind  blew  unequally;  sometimes  sweeping  heavily 
along  the  ground,  seeming  to  whisper  its  moanings  in  the 
cold  ears  of  the  dead,  then  rising  in  a  shrill  and  mournful 
whistling,  it  entered  the  forest  with  a  rush  that  filled  the  air 
with  the  leaves  and  branches  it  scattered  in  its  path.  Amid 
the  unnatural  shower,  a  few  hungry  ravens  struggled  with 
the  gale;  but  no  sooner  was  the  green  ocean  of  woods,  which 
stretched  beneath  them,  passed,  than  they  gladly  stopped,  at 
random,  to  their  hideous  banquet. 

In  short,  it  was  a  scene  of  wildness  and  desolation ;  and 
it  appeared  as  if  all  who  had  profanely  entered  it  had  been 
stricken,  at  a  blow,  by  the  relentless  arm  of  death.  But  the 
prohibition  had  ceased ;  and,  for  the  first  time  since  the  per- 
petrators of  those  foul  deeds  which  had  assisted  to  disfigure 
the  scene,  were  gone,  living  human  beings  had  now  pre- 
sumed to  approach  the  place. 

About  an  hour  before  the  setting  of  the  sun,  on  the  day 
already  mentioned,  the  forms  of  five  men  might  have  been 
seen  issuing  from  the  narrow  vista  of  trees,  where  the  path 
to  the  Hudson  entered  the  forest,  and  advancing  in  the 
direction  of  the  ruined  works.  At  first  their  progress  was 
slow  and  guarded,  as  though  they  entered  with  reluctance 
amid  the  horrors  of  the  spot,  or  dreaded  the  renewal  of  its 
frightful  incidents.  A  light  figure  preceded  the  rest  of  the 
party,  with  the  caution  and  activity  of  a  native;  ascending 
every  hillock  to  reconnoitre,  and  indicating,  by  gestures,  to 
his  companions,  the  route  he  deemed  it  most  prudent  to  pur- 


23O  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

sue.  Nor  were  those  in  the  rear  wanting  in  every  caution 
and  foresight  known  to  forest  warfare.  One  among  them, 
he  also  was  an  Indian,  moved  a  little  on  one  flank,  and 
watched  the  margin  of  the  woods,  with  eyes  long  accustomed 
to  read  the  smallest  sign  of  danger.  The  remaining  three 
were  white,  though  clad  in  vestments  adapted,  both  in  qual- 
ity and  color,  to  their  present  hazardous  pursuit,- — that  of 
hanging  on  the  skirts  of  a  retiring  army  in  the  wilderness. 

The  effects  produced  by  the  appalling  sights  that  con- 
stantly arose  in  their  path  to  the  lake  shore,  were  as  different 
as  the  characters  of  the  respective  individuals  who  com- 
posed the  party.  The  youth  in  front  threw  serious  but  fur- 
tive glances  at  the  mangled  victims,  as  he  stepped  lightly 
across  the  plain,  afraid  to  exhibit  his  feelings,  and  yet  too 
inexperienced  to  quell  entirely  their  sudden  and  powerful 
influence.  His  red  associate,  however,  was  superior  to  such 
a  weakness.  He  passed  the  groups  of  dead  with  a  steadi- 
ness of  purpose,  and  an  eye  so  calm,  that  nothing  but  long 
and  inveterate  practice  could  enable  him  to  maintain.  The 
sensations  produced  in  the  minds  of  even  the  white  men 
were  different,  though  uniformly  sorrowful.  One,  whose 
gray  locks  and  furrowed  lineaments,  blending  with  a  mar- 
tial air  and  tread,  betrayed,  in  spite  of  the  disguise  of  a 
woodman's  dress,  a  man  long  experienced  in  scenes  of  war, 
was  not  ashamed  to  groan  aloud,  whenever  a  spectacle  of 
more  than  usual  horror  came  under  his  view.  The  young 
man  at  his  elbow  shuddered,  but  seemed  to  suppress  his 
feelings  in  tenderness  to  his  companion.  Of  them  all,  the 
straggler  who  brought  up  the  rear  appeared  alone  to  betray 
his  real  thoughts,  without  fear  of  observation  or  dread  of 
consequences.  He  gazed  at  the  most  appalling  sight  with 
eyes  and  muscles  that  knew  not  how  to  waver,  but  with  ex- 
ecrations so  bitter  and  deep  as  to  denote  how  much  he  de- 
nounced the  crime  of  his  enemies. 

The  reader  will  perceive,  at  once,  in  these  respective 
characters,  the  Mohicans,  and  their  white  friend,  the  scout; 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  23  I 

together  with  Munro  and  Heyward.  It  was,  in  truth,  the 
father  in  quest  of  his  children,  attended  by  the  youth  who 
felt  so  deep  a  stake  in  their  happiness,  and  those  brave  and 
trusty  foresters  who  had  already  proved  their  skill  and  fidel- 
ity through  the  trying  scenes  related. 

When  Uncas,  who  moved  in  front,  had  reached  the  centre 
of  the  plain,  he  raised  a  cry  that  drew  his  companions  in  a 
body  to  the  spot.  The  young  warrior  had  halted  over  a 
group  of  females  who  lay  in  a  cluster,  a  confused  mass  of 
dead.  Notwithstanding  the  revolting  horror  of  the  exhibi- 
tion, Munro  and  Heyward  flew  toward  the  festering  heap, 
endeavoring,  with  a  love  that  no  unseemliness  could  extin- 
guish, to  discover  whether  any  vestiges  of  those  they  sought 
were  to  be  seen  among  the  tattered  and  many-colored  gar- 
ments. The  father  and  the  lover  found  instant  relief  in  the 
search;  though  each  was  condemned  again  to  experience 
the  misery  of  an  uncertainty  that  was  hardly  less  insupport- 
able than  the  most  revolting  truth.  They  were  standing, 
silent  and  thoughtful,  around  the  melancholy  pile,  when  the 
scout  approached.  Eying  the  sad  spectacle  with  an  angry 
countenance,  the  sturdy  woodsman,  for  the  first  time  since 
his  entering  the  plain,  spoke  intelligibly  and  aloud — 

"  I  have  been  on  many  a  shocking  field,  and  have  followed 
a  trail  of  blood  for  weary  miles,"  he  said,  "but  never  have 
I  found  the  hand  of  the  devil  so  plain  as  it  is  here  to  be 
seen !  Revenge  is  an  Indian  feeling,  and  all  who  know  me 
know  that  there  is  no  cross  in  my  veins;  but  this  much  will 
I  say — here,  in  the  face  of  heaven,  and  with  t|ie  power  of 
the  Lord  so  manifest  in  this  howling  wilderness, — that 
should  these  Frenchers  ever  trust  themselves  again  within 
the  range  of  a  ragged  bullet,  there  is  one  rifle  shall  play  its 
part,  so  long  as  flint  will  fire  or  powder  burn ! — I  leave  the 
tomahawk  and  knife  to  such  as  have  a  natural  gift  to  use 
them.  What  say  you,  Chingachgook,"  he  added  in  Dela- 
ware; 'shall  the  Hurons  boast  of  this  to  their  women  when 
the  deep  snows  come?  " 


232  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

A  dream  of  resentment  flashed  across  the  dark  lineaments 
of  the  Mohican  chief:  he  loosened  his  knife  in  his  sheath; 
and  then  turning  calmly  from  the  sight,  his  countenance 
settled  into  a  repose  as  deep  as  if  he  never  knew  the  insti- 
gation of  passion. 

"Montcalm!  Montcalm!  "  continued  the  deeply  resentful 
and  less  self-restrained  scout;  "they  say  a  time  must  come, 
when  all  the  deeds  done  in  the  flesh  will  be  seen  at  a  single 
look;  and  that  by  eyes  cleared  from  mortal  infirmities. 
Woe  betide  the  wretch  who  is  born  to  behold  this  plain, 
with  the  judgment  hanging  about  his  soul!  Ha — as  I  am  a 
man  of  white  blood,  yonder  lies  a  red-skin,  without  the  hair 
of  his  head  where  nature  rooted  it!  Look  to  him,  Dela- 
ware; it  may  be  one  of  your  missing  people;  and  he  should 
have  burial  like  a  stout  warrior.  I  see  it  in  your  eye,  Sag- 
amore:  a  Huron  pays  for  this,  afore  the  fall  winds  have 
blown  away  the  scent  of  the  blood!  " 

Chingachgook  approached  the  mutilated  form,  and  turn- 
ing it  over,  he  found  the  distinguishing  marks  of  one  of 
those  six  allied  tribes,  or  nations,  as  they  were  called,  who, 
while  they  fought  in  the  English  ranks,  were  so  deadly  hos- 
tile to  his  own  people.  Spurning  the  loathsome  object  with 
his  foot,  he  turned  from  it  with  the  same  indifference  he 
would  have  quitted  a  brute  carcase.  The  scout  compre- 
hended the  action,  and  very  deliberately  pursued  his  own 
way,  continuing,  however,  his  denunciations  against  the 
French  commander  in  the  same  resentful  strain. 

"  Nothing  but  vast  wisdom  and  onlimited  power  should 
dare  to  sweep  off  men  in  multitudes,"  he  added;  "for  it  is 
only  the  one  that  can  know  the  necessity  of  the  judgment; 
and  what  is  there  short  of  the  other  that  can  replace  the  creat- 
ures of  the  Lord?  I  hold  it  a  sin  to  kill  the  second  buck 
afore  the  first  is  eaten,  unless  a  march  in  the  front,  or  an 
ambushment,  be  contemplated.  It  is  a  different  matter 
with  a  few  warriors  in  open  and  rugged  fight,  for  'tis  their 
gift  to  die  with  the  rifle  or  the  tomahawk  in  hand ;  accord- 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  233 

ing  as  their  natures  may  happen  to  be  white  or  red.  Uncas, 
come  this  way,  lad,  and  let  the  ravens  settle  upon  the  Mingo. 
I  know,  from  often  seeing  it,  that  they  have  a  craving  for 
the  flesh  of  an  Oneida;  and  it  is  as  well  to  let  the  bird  fol- 
low the  gift  of  its  natural  appetite." 

"Hugh!"  exclaimed  the  young  Mohican,  rising  on  the 
extremities  of  his  feet,  and  gazing  intently  in  his  front, 
frightening  the  raven  to  some  other  prey,  by  the  sound  and 
the  action. 

"  What  is  it,  boy?  "  whispered  the  scout,  lowering  his  tall 
form  into  a  crouching  attitude,  like  a  panther  about  to  take 
his  leap;  "God  send  it  be  a  tardy  Frencher,  skulking  for 
plunder.  I  do  believe '  Kill-deer  '  would  take  an  oncommon 
range  to-day !  " 

Uncas,  without  making  any  reply,  bounded  away  from  the 
spot,  and  in  the  next  instant  he  was  seen  tearing  from  a 
bush,  and  waving  in  triumph,  a  fragment  of  the  green  rid- 
ing veil  of  Cora.  The  movement,  the  exhibition,  and  the 
cry,  which  again  burst  from  the  lips  of  the  young  Mohican, 
instantly  drew  the  whole  party  about  him. 

"My  child!"  said  Munro,  speaking  quick  and  wildly; 
"give  me  my  child!  " 

"Uncas  will  try,"  was  the  short  and  touching  answer. 

The  simple  but  meaning  assurance  was  lost  on  the  father, 
who  seized  the  piece  of  gauze,  and  crushed  it  in  his  hand, 
while  his  eyes  roamed  fearfully  among  the  bushes,  as  if  he 
equally  dreaded  and  hoped  for  the  secrets  they  might  reveal. 

"  Here  are  no  dead,"  said  Heyward ;  "  the  storm  seems 
not  to  have  passed  this  way." 

"That's  manifest;  and  clearer  than  the  heavens  above  our 
heads,"  returned  the  undisturbed  scout;  "but  either  she,  or 
they  that  have  robbed  her,  have  passed  the  bush;  for  I  re- 
member the  rag  she  wore  to  hide  a  face  that  all  did  love  to 
look  upon.  Uncas,  you  are  right;  the  dark-hair  has  been 
here,  and  she  has  fled,  like  a  frighted  fawn,  to  the  wood; 
none  who  could  fly  would  remain  to  be  murdered.     Let  us 


2  34  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

search  for  the  marks  she  left;  for  to  Indian  eyes,  I  some- 
times think  even  a  humming-bird  leaves  his  trail  in  the  air." 

The  young  Mohican  darted  away  at  the  suggestion,  and 
the  scout  had  hardly  done  speaking,  before  the  former  raised 
a  cry  of  success  from  the  margin  of  the  forest.  On  reaching 
the  spot,  the  anxious  party  perceived  another  portion  of  the 
veil  fluttering  on  the  lower  branch  of  a  beech. 

"  Softly,  softly,"  said  the  scout,  extending  his  long  rifle 
in  front  of  the  eager  Heyward ;  "  we  now  know  our  work, 
but  the  beauty  of  the  trail  must  not  be  deformed.  A  step 
too  soon  may  give  us  hours  of  trouble.  We  have  them 
though;  that  much  is  beyond  denial." 

"Bless  ye,  bless  ye,  worthy  man!"  exclaimed  Munro; 
"whither,  then,  have  they  fled,  and  where  are  my  babes?  " 

"  The  path  they  have  taken  depends  on  many  chances. 
If  they  have  gone  alone,  they  are  quite  as  likely  to  move  in 
a  circle  as  straight,  and  they  may  be  within  a  dozen  miles 
of  us;  but  if  the  Hurons,  or  any  of  the  French  Indians, 
have  laid  hands  on  them,  'tis  probable  they  are  now  near 
the  borders  of  the  Canadas.  But  what  matters  that?  "  con- 
tinued the  deliberate  scout,  observing  the  powerful  anxiety 
and  disappointment  the  listeners  exhibited;  "here  are  the 
Mohicans  and  I  on  one  end  of  the  trail,  and,  rely  on  it,  we 
find  the  other,  though  they  should  be  a  hundred  leagues 
asunder!  Gently,  gently,  Uncas,  you  are  as  impatient  as  a 
man  in  the  settlements;  you  forget  that  light  feet  leave  but 
faint  marks!  " 

"Hugh!  "  exclaimed  Chingachgook,  who  had  been  occu- 
pied in  examining  an  opening  that  had  been  evidently  made 
through  the  low  underbrush,  which  skirted  the  forest;  and 
who  now  stood  erect,  as  he  pointed  downward,  in  the  attitude 
and  with  the  air  of  a  man  who  beheld  a  disgusting  serpent. 

"  Here  is  the  palpable  impression  of  the  footstep  of  a 
man,"  cried  Heyward,  bending  over  the  indicated  spot: 
"  he  has  trod  in  the  margin  of  this  pool,  and  the  mark  can- 
not be  mistaken.     They  are  captives." 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  235 

"  Better  so  than  left  to  starve  in  the  wilderness,"  returned 
'he  scout;  "and  they  will  leave  a  wider  trail.  I  would 
wager  fifty  beaver  skins  against  as  many  flints,  that  the  Mo- 
hicans and  I  enter  their  wigwams  within  the  month !  Stoop 
to  it,  Uncas,  and  try  what  you  can  make  of  the  moccasin ; 
for  moccasin  it  plainly  is,  and  no  shoe." 

The  young  Mohican  bent  over  the  track,  and  removing 
the  scattered  leaves  from  around  the  place,  he  examined  it 
with  much  of  that  sort  of  scrutiny  that  a  money-dealer,  in 
these  days  of  pecuniary  doubts,  would  bestow  on  a  suspected 
due-bill.  At  length,  he  arose  from  his  knees,  satisfied  with 
the  result  of  the  examination. 

"  Well,  boy,"  demanded  the  attentive  scout,  "  what  does 
it  say?  can  you  make  anything  of  the  tell-tale?  " 

"  Le  Renard  Subtil !  " 

"  Ha !  that  rampaging  devil  again !  there  never  will  be  an 
end  of  his  loping,  till  '  Kill-deer '  has  said  a  friendly  word 
to  him." 

Heyward  reluctantly  admitted  the  truth  of  this  intelli- 
gence, and  now  expressed  rather  his  hopes  than  his  doubts 
by  saying — 

"  One  moccasin  is  so  much  like  another,  it  is  probable 
there  is  some  mistake." 

"One  moccasin  like  another!  you  may  as  well  say  that 
one  foot  is  like  another;  though  we  all  know  that  some  are 
long,  and  others  short;  some  broad,  and  others  narrow; 
some  with  high,  and  some  with  low,  insteps;  some  in-toed, 
and  some  out.  One  moccasin  is  no  more  like  another  than 
one  book  is  like  another;  though  they  who  can  read  in  one 
are  seldom  able  to  tell  the  marks  of  the  other.  Which  is  all 
ordered  for  the  best,  giving  to  every  man  his  natural  ad- 
vantages. Let  me  get  down  to  it,  Uncas ;  neither  book  nor 
moccasin  is  the  worse  for  having  two  opinions,  instead  of 
one."  The  scout  stooped  to  the  task,  and  instantly  added, 
"  You  are  right,  boy ;  here  is  the  patch  we  saw  so  often  in 
the  other  chase.     And  the  fellow  will  drink  when  he  can  get 


236  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

an  opportunity:  your  drinking  Indian  always  learns  to  walk 
with  a  wider  toe  than  the  natural  savage,  it  being  the  gift  oi 
a  drunkard  to  straddle,  whether  of  white  or  red  skin.  Tis 
just  the  length  and  breadth  too!  look  at  it,  Sagamore:  you 
measured  the  prints  more  than  once,  when  we  hunted  the 
varments  from  Glenn's  to  the  health-springs." 

Chingachgook  complied;  and  after  finishing  his  short 
examination,  he  arose,  and  with  a  quiet  demeanor,  he  merely 
pronounced  the  word — 

"  Magua." 

"  Ay,  'tis  a  settled  thing;  here  then  have  passed  the  dark- 
hair  and  Magua." 

"And  not  Alice?  "  demanded  Heyward. 

"  Of  her  we  have  not  yet  seen  the  signs,"  returned  the 
scout,  looking  closely  around  at  the  trees,  the  bushes,  and 
the  ground.  "What  have  we  there?  Uncas,  bring  hither 
the  thing  you  see  dangling  from  yonder  thorn-bush." 

When  the  Indian  had  complied,  the  scout  received  the 
prize,  and  holding  it  on  high,  he  laughed  in  his  silent  but 
heartfelt  manner. 

"  'Tis  the  tooting  we'pon  of  the  singer !  now  we  shall  have 
a  trail  a  priest  might  travel,"  he  said.  "  Uncas,  look  for 
the  marks  of  a  shoe  that  is  long  enough  to  uphold  six  feet 
two  of  tottering  human  flesh.  I  begin  to  have  some  hopes 
of  the  fellow,  since  he  has  given  up  squalling  to  follow 
some  better  trade." 

"  At  least,  he  has  been  faithful  to  his  trust,"  said  Hey- 
ward; "and  Cora  and  Alice  are  not  without  a  friend." 

"  Yes,"  said  Hawk-eye,  dropping  his  rifle,  and  leaning  on 
it  with  an  air  of  visible  contempt,  "  he  will  do  their  sing- 
ing! Can  he  slay  a  buck  for  their  dinner;  journey  by  the 
moss  on  the  beeches,  or  cut  the  throat  of  a  Huron  ?  If  not, 
the  first  cat-bird*  he  meets  is  the  cleverest  of  the  two. 
Well,  boy,  any  signs  of  such  a  foundation?  " 

*  The  powers  of  the  American  mocking-bird  are  generally  known.     But  the  true 
mocking-bird  is  not  found  so  far  north  as  the  State  of  New  York,  where  it  has,  however. 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  237 

"Here  is  something  like  the  footstep  of  one  who  has 
worn  a  shoe ;  can  it  be  that  of  our  friend  ?  " 

"  Touch  the  leaves  lightly,  or  you'll  disconsart  the  forma- 
tion. That!  that  is  the  print  of  a  foot,  but  'tis  the  dark- 
hair's;  and  small  it  is,  too,  for  one  of  such  a  noble  height 
and  grand  appearance.  The  singer  would  cover  it  with  his 
heel." 

"Where!  let  me  look  on  the  footsteps  of  my  child,"  said 
Munro,  shoving  the  bushes  aside,  and  bending  fondly  over 
the  nearly  obliterated  impression.  Though  the  tread,  which 
had  left  the  mark,  had  been  light  and  rapid,  it  was  still 
plainly  visible.  The  aged  soldier  examined  it  with  eyes 
that  grew  dim  as  he  gazed;  nor  did  he  rise  from  his  stoop- 
ing posture  until  Heyward  saw  that  he  had  watered  the  trace 
of  his  daughter's  passage  with  a  scalding  tear.  Willing  to 
divert  a  distress  which  threatened  each  moment  to  break 
through  the  restraint  of  appearances,  by  giving  the  veteran 
something  to  do,  the  young  man  said  to  the  scout — 

"As  we  now  possess  these  infallible  signs,  let  us  com- 
mence our  march.  A  moment,  at  such  a  time,  will  appear 
an  age  to  the  captives." 

"  It  is  not  the  swiftest  leaping  deer  that  gives  the  longest 
chase,"  returned  Hawk-eye,  without  moving  his  eyes  from 
the  different  marks  that  had  come  under  his  view;  "we 
know  that  the  rampaging  Huron  has  passed — and  the  dark 
hair — and  the  singer — but  where  is  she  of  the  yellow  locks 
and  blue  eyes?  Though  little,  and  far  from  being  as  bold 
as  her  sister,  she  is  fair  to  the  view,  and  pleasant  in  dis- 
course.    Has  she  no  friend,  that  none  care  for  her?  " 

"God  forbid  she  should  ever  want  hundreds!  Are  we 
not  now  in  her  pursuit?  for  one,  I  will  never  cease  the 
search  till  she  be  found." 

"In  that  case  we  may  have  to  journey  by  different  paths; 

two  substitutes  of  inferior  excellence  ;  the  cat-bird,  so  often  named  by  the  scout,  and 
the  bird  vulgarly  called  ground-thresher.  Either  of  these  two  last  birds  is  superior  to 
the  nightingale,  or  the  lark,  though,  in  general,  the  American  birds  are  less  musical 
than  those  of  Europe. 


238  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

for  here  she  has  not  passed,  light  and  little  as  her  footstep 
would  be." 

Heyward  drew  back,  all  his  ardor  to  proceed  seeming  to 
vanish  on  the  instant.  Without  attending  to  this  sudden 
change  in  the  other's  humor,  the  scout,  after  musing  a  mo- 
ment, continued — 

"There  is  no  woman  in  this  wilderness  could  leave  such 
a  print  as  that,  but  the  dark-hair  or  her  sister.  We  know 
that  the  first  has  been  here,  but  where  are  the  signs  of  the 
other?  Let  us  push  deeper  on  the  trail,  and  if  nothing 
offers,  we  must  go  back  to  the  plain  and  strike  another  scent. 
Move  on,  Uncas,  and  keep  your  eyes  on  the  dried  leaves. 
I  will  watch  the  bushes,  while  your  father  shall  run  with  a 
low  nose  to  the  ground.  Move  on,  friends;  the  sun  is  get- 
ting behind  the  hills." 

"Is  there  nothing  that  I  can  do?  "  demanded  the  anxious 
Heyward. 

"You!  "  repeated  the  scout,  who,  with  his  red  friends,  was 
already  advancing  in  the  order  he  had  prescribed;  "yes,  you 
can  keep  in  our  rear,  and  be  careful  not  to  cross  the  trail." 

Before  they  had  proceeded  many  rods,  the  Indians  stopped, 
and  appeared  to  gaze  at  some  signs  on  the  earth  with  more 
than  their  usual  keenness.  Both  father  and  son  spoke  quick 
and  loud,  now  looking  at  the  object  of  their  mutual  admira- 
tion, and  now  regarding  each  other  with  the  most  unequivo- 
cal pleasure. 

"They  have  found  the  little  foot!  "  exclaimed  the  scout, 
moving  forward,  without  attending  further  to  his  own  por- 
tion of  the  duty.  "What  have  we  here?  An  ambushment 
has  been  planted  in  the  spot !  No,  by  the  truest  rifle  on  the 
frontiers,  here  have  been  them  one-sided  horses  again! 
Now  the  whole  secret  is  out,  and  all  is  plain  as  the  north 
star  at  midnight.  Yes,  here  they  have  mounted.  There 
the  beasts  have  been  bound  to  a  sapling,  in  waiting;  and 
yonder  runs  the  broad  path  away  to  the  north,  in  full  sweep 
for  the  Canadas." 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  239 

"  But  still  there  are  no  signs  of  Alice — of  the  younger 
Miss  Munro," — said  Duncan. 

"  Unless  the  shining  bauble  Uncas  has  just  lifted  from 
the  ground  should  prove  one.  Pass  it  this  way,  lad,  that  we 
may  look  at  it." 

Heyward  instantly  knew  it  for  a  trinket  that  Alice  was 
fond  of  wearing,  and  which  he  recollected,  with  the  tena- 
cious memory  of  a  lover,  to  have  seen,  on  the  fatal  morning 
of  the  massacre,  dangling  from  the  fair  neck  of  his  mistress. 
He  seized  the  highly  prized  jewel;  and  as  he  proclaimed 
the  fact,  it  vanished  from  the  eyes  of  the  wondering  scout, 
who  in  vain  looked  for  it  on  the  ground,  long  after  it  was 
warmly  pressed  against  the  beating  heart  of  Duncan. 

"Pshaw!"  said  the  disappointed  Hawk-eye,  ceasing  to 
rake  the  leaves  with  the  breech  of  his  rifle;  "'tis  a  certain 
sign  of  age,  when  the  sight  begins  to  weaken.  Such  a  glit- 
tering gew-gaw,  and  not  to  be  seen !  Well,  well,  I  can 
squint  along  a  clouded  barrel  yet,  and  that  is  enough  to  set- 
tle all  disputes  between  me  and  the  Mingoes.  I  should 
like  to  find  the  thing  too,  if  it  were  only  to  carry  it  to  the 
right  owner,  and  that  would  be  bringing  the  two  ends  of 
what  I  call  a  long  trail  together — for  by  this  time  the  broad 
St.  Lawrence,  or,  perhaps,  the  Great  Lakes,  themselves,  are 
atwixt  us." 

"  So  much  the  more  reason  why  we  should  not  delay  our 
march,"  returned  Heyward ;  "  let  us  proceed." 

"  Young  blood  and  hot  blood,  they  say,  are  much  the  same 
thing.  We  are  not  about  to  start  on  a  squirrel  hunt,  or  to 
drive  a  deer  into  the  Horican,  but  to  outlie  for  days  and 
nights,  and  to  stretch  across  a  wilderness  where  the  feet  of 
men  seldom  go,  and  where  no  bookish  knowledge  would  carry 
you  through  harmless.  An  Indian  never  starts  on  such  an 
expedition  without  smoking  over  his  council  fire;  and 
though  a  man  of  white  blood,  I  honor  their  customs  in  this 
particular,  seeing  that  they  are  deliberate  and  wise.  We 
will,  therefore,  go  back,  and  light  our  fire  to-night  in  the 


24O  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

ruins  of  the  old  fort,  and  in  the  morning  we  shall  be  fresh, 
and  ready  to  undertake  our  work  like  men,  and  not  like 
babbling  women  or  eager  boys." 

Heyward  saw,  by  the  manner  of  the  scout,  that  altercation 
would  be  useless.  Munro  had  again  sunk  into  that  sort  of 
apathy  which  had  beset  him  since  his  late  overwhelming 
misfortunes,  and  from  which  he  was  apparently  to  be  roused 
only  by  some  new  and  powerful  excitement.  Making  a 
merit  of  necessity,  the  young  man  took  the  veteran  by  the 
arm,  and  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  the  Indians  and  the 
scout,  who  had  already  begun  to  retrace  the  path  which  con- 
ducted them  to  the  plain. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 


Salar.  Why,  I  am  sure,  if  he  forfeit,  thou  wilt  not  take  his  flesh  ;  what's  that  good 
for? 

Shy.  To  bait  fish  withal  :  if  it  will  feed  nothing  else,  it  will  feed  my  revenge. 

Shakspeare. 

The  shades  of  evening  had  come  to  increase  the  dreariness 
of  the  place,  when  the  party  entered  the  ruins  of  William 
Henry.  The  scout  and  his  companions  immediately  made 
their  preparations  to  pass  the  night  there ;  but  with  an  earnest- 
ness and  sobriety  of  demeanor,  that  betrayed  how  much  the 
unusual  horrors  they  had  just  witnessed  worked  on  even 
their  practised  feelings.  A  few  fragments  of  rafters  were 
reared  against  a  blackened  wall;  and  when  Uncas  had  cov- 
ered them  slightly  with  brush,  the  temporary  accommoda- 
tions were  deemed  sufficient.  The  young  Indian  pointed 
toward  his  rude  hut,  when  his  labor  was  ended;  and  Hey- 
ward, who  understood  the  meaning  of  the  silent  gesture, 
gently  urged  Munro  to  enter.  Leaving  the  bereaved  old 
man  alone  with  his  sorrows,  Duncan  immediately  returned 
into  the  open  air,  too  much  excited  himself  to  seek  the  re- 
pose he  had  recommended  to  his  veteran  friend. 

While  Hawk-eye  and  the  Indians  lighted  their  fire,  and 


THE    LAST    OF   THE    MOHICANS,  24* 

took  their  evening's  repast,  a  frugal  meal  of  dried  bear's 
meat,  the  young  man  paid  a  visit  t)  that  curtain  of  the  di- 
lapidated fort  which  looked  out  rn  th  she  t  of  the  Horican. 
The  wind  had  fallen,  and  the  waves  were  already  rolling  on 
the  sandy  beach  beneath  him,  in  a  more  regular  and  tem- 
pered succession.  The  clouds,  as  if  tired  of  their  furious 
chase,  were  breaking  asunder;  the  heavier  volumes,  gather- 
ing in  black  masses  about  the  horizon,  while  the  lighter 
scud  still  hurried  above  the  water,  or  eddied  among  the  tops 
of  the  mountains,  like  broken  flights  of  birds,  hovering 
around  their  roosts.  Here  and  there,  a  red  and  fiery  star 
struggled  through  the  drifting  vapor,  furnishing  a  lurid 
gleam  of  brightness  to  the  dull  aspect  of  the  heavens. 
Within  the  bosom  of  the  encircling  hills,  an  impenetrable 
darkness  had  already  settled;  and  the  plain  lay  like  a  vast 
and  deserted  charnel-house,  without  omen  or  whisper  to  dis- 
turb the  slumbers  of  its  numerous  and  hapless  tenants. 

Of  this  scene,  so  chillingly  in  accordance  with  the  past, 
Duncan  stood  for  many  minutes  a  rapt  observer.  His  eyes 
wandered  from  the  bosom  of  the  mound,  where  the  foresters 
were  seated  around  their  glimmering  fire,  to  the  fainter  light 
which  still  lingered  in  the  skies,  and  then  rested  long  and 
anxiously  on  the  embodied  gloom,  which  lay  like  a  dreary 
void  on  that  side  of  him  where  the  dead  reposed.  He  soon 
fancied  that  inexplicable  sounds  arose  from  the  place, 
though  so  indistinct  and  stolen,  as  to  render  not  only  their 
nature  but  even  their  existence  uncertain.  Ashamed  of  his 
apprehensions  the  young  man  turned  toward  the  water,  and 
strove  to  divert  his  attention  to  the  mimic  stars  that  dimly 
glimmered  on  its  moving  surface.  Still,  his  too  conscious 
ears  performed  their  ungrateful  duty,  as  if  to  warn  him  of 
some  lurking  danger.  At  length  a  swift  trampling  seemed, 
quite  audibly,  to  rush  athwart  the  darkness.  Unable  any 
longer  to  quiet  his  uneasiness,  Duncan  spoke  in  a  low  voice 
to  the  scout,  requesting  him  to  ascend  the  mound  to  the 
place  where  he  stood.  Hawk-eye  threw  his  rifle  across  an 
J6 


242  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

arm,  and  complied,  but  with  an  air  so  unmoved  and  calm, 
as  to  prove  how  much  he  counted  on  the  security  of  their 
position. 

"Listen,"  said  Duncan,  when  the  other  placed  himself 
deliberately  at  his  elbow :  "  there  are  suppressed  noises  on 
the  plain  which  may  show  that  Montcalm  has  not  yet  en- 
tirely deserted  his  conquest." 

"  Then  ears  are  better  than  eyes,"  said  the  undisturbed 
scout,  who  having  just  deposited  a  portion  of  a  bear  between 
his  grinders,  spoke  thick  and  slow,  like  one  whose  mouth 
was  doubly  occupied.  "  I,  myself,  saw  him  caged  in  Ty, 
with  all  his  host;  for  your  Frenchers,  when  they  have  done 
a  clever  thing,  like  to  get  back,  and  have  a  dance,  or  a 
merry-making  with  the  women  over  their  success." 

"  I  know  not.  An  Indian  seldom  sleeps  in  war,  and 
plunder  may  keep  a  Huron  here,  after  his  tribe  has  de- 
parted. It  would  be  well  to  extinguish  the  fire,  and  have 
a  watch — Listen!  you  hear  the  noise  I  mean!  " 

"  An  Indian  more  rarely  lurks  about  the  graves.  Though 
ready  to  slay,  and  not  over  regardful  of  the  means,  he  is 
commonly  content  with  the  scalp,  unless  when  blood  is  hot, 
and  temper  up;  but  after  the  spirit  is  once  fairly  gone,  he 
forgets  his  enmity,  and  is  willing  to  let  the  dead  find  their 
natural  rest.  Speaking  of  spirits,  Major,  are  you  of  opin- 
ion that  the  heaven  of  a  redskin  and  of  us  whites  will  be 
one  and  the  same  ?  " 

"  No  doubt — no  doubt.  I  thought  I  heard  it  again !  or 
was  it  the  rustling  of  the  leaves  in  the  top  of  the  beech?  " 

"  For  my  own  part,"  continued  Hawk-eye,  turning  his 
face,  for  a  moment,  in  the  direction  indicated  by  Heyward, 
but  with  a  vacant  and  careless  manner,  "  I  believe  that  par- 
adise is  ordained  for  happiness;  and  that  men  will  be  in- 
dulged in  it  according  to  their  dispositions  and  gifts.  I 
therefore  judge  a  redskin  is  not  far  from  the  truth  when  he 
believes  he  is  to  find  them  glorious  hunting  grounds  of 
which  his  traditions  tell;  n  r,  f  r  that  matter,  do  I  think  it 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  243 

would  be  any  disparagement  to  a  man  without  a  cross  to 
pass  his  time " 

"You  hear  it  again?  "  interrupted  Duncan. 

"  Ay,  ay ;  when  food  is  scarce,  and  when  food  is  plenty,  a 
wolf  grows  bold,"  said  the  unmoved  scout.  "  There  would 
be  picking,  too,  among  the  skins  of  the  devils,  if  there  was 
light  and  time  for  the  sport.  But,  concerning  the  life  that  is 
to  come,  Major:  I  have  heard  preachers  say,  in  the  settle- 
ments, that  heaven  was  a  place  of  rest.  Now  men's  minds 
differ  as  to  their  ideas  of  enjoyment.  For  myself,  and  I 
say  it  with  reverence  to  the  ordering  of  Providence,  it  would 
be  no  great  indulgence  to  be  kept  shut  up  in  those  mansions 
of  which  they  preach,  having  a  natural  longing  for  motion 
and  the  chase." 

Duncan,  who  was  now  made  to  understand  the  nature  of 
the  noises  he  had  heard,  answered,  with  more  attention  to 
the  subject  which  the  humor  of  the  scout  had  chosen  for  dis- 
cussion, by  saying — ■ 

"It  is  difficult  to  account  for  the  feelings  that  may  attend 
the  last  great  change." 

"  It  would  be  a  change,  indeed,  for  a  man  who  has  passed 
his  days  in  the  open  air,"  returned  the  single-minded  scout; 
"and  who  has  so  often  broken  his  fast  on  the  headwaters 
of  the  Hudson,  to  sleep  within  sound  of  the  roaring  Mo- 
hawk. But  it  is  a  comfort  to  know  we  serve  a  merciful 
Master,  though  we  do  it  each  after  his  fashion,  and 
with  great  tracts  of  wilderness  atween  us — What  goes 
there?" 

"  Is  it  not  the  rushing  of  the  wolves  you  have  men- 
tioned? " 

Hawk-eye  slowly  shook  his  head,  and  beckoned  for  Dun- 
can to  follow  him  to  a  spot  to  which  the  glare  from  the  fire 
did  not  extend.  When  he  had  taken  this  precaution,  the 
scout  placed  himself  in  an  attitude  of  intense  attention,  and 
listened  long  and  keenly  for  a  repetition  of  the  low  sound 
that  had  so  unexpectedly  startled  him.     His  vigilance,  how- 


244  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

ever,  seemed  exercised  in  vain;  for,  after  a  fruitless  pause, 
he  whispered  to  Duncan — 

"We  must  give  a  call  to  Uncas.  The  boy  has  Indian 
senses,  and  may  hear  what  is  hid  from  us;  for  being  a 
white-skin,  I  will  not  deny  my  nature." 

The  young  Mohican,  who  was  conversing  in  a  low  voice 
with  his  father,  started  as  he  heard  the  moaning  of  an  owl, 
and  springing  on  his  feet,  he  looked  toward  the  black 
mounds,  as  if  seeking  the  place  whence  the  sounds  pro- 
ceeded. The  scout  repeated  the  call,  and  in  a  few  moments, 
Duncan  saw  the  figure  of  Uncas  stealing  cautiously  along 
the  rampart,  to  the  spot  where  they  stood. 

Hawk-eye  explained  his  wishes  in  a  very  few  words,  which 
were  spoken  in  the  Delaware  tongue.  So  soon  as  Uncas  was 
in  possession  of  the  reason  why  he  was  summoned,  he  threw 
himself  flat  on  the  turf;  where,  to  the  eyes  of  Duncan,  he 
appeared  to  lie  quiet  and  motionless.  Surprised  at  the  im- 
movable attitude  of  the  young  warrior,  and  curious  to  observe 
the  manner  in  which  he  employed  his  faculties  to  obtain  the 
desired  information,  Heyward  advanced  a  few  steps,  and 
bent  over  the  dark  object,  on  which  he  had  kept  his  eyes 
riveted.  Then  it  was  he  discovered  that  the  form  of  Uncas 
had  vanished,  and  that  he  beheld  only  the  dark  outline  of 
an  inequality  in  the  embankment. 

"What  has  become  of  the  Mohican?"  he  demanded  of 
the  scout,  stepping  back  in  amazement :  "  it  was  here  that  I 
saw  him  fall,  and  I  could  have  sworn  that  here  he  yet  re- 
mained." 

"  Hist!  speak  lower;  for  we  know  not  what  ears  are  open, 
and  the  Mingoes  are  a  quick-witted  breed.  As  for  Uncas, 
he  is  out  on  the  plain,  and  the  Maquas,  if  any  such  are 
about  us,  will  find  their  equal." 

"  You  think  that  Montcalm  has  not  called  off  all  his  In- 
dians? Let  us  give  the  alarm  to  our  companions,  that  we 
may  stand  to  our  arms.  Here  are  five  of  us,  who  are  not 
unused  to  meet  an  enemy." 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  245 

"Not  a  word  to  either,  as  you  value  life.  Look  at  the 
Sagamore,  how  like  a  grand  Indian  chief  he  sits  by  the  fire. 
If  there  are  any  skulkers  out  in  the  darkness,  they  will 
never  discover,  by  his  countenance,  that  we  suspect  danger 
at  hand." 

"  But  they  may  discover  him,  and  it  will  prove  his  death. 
His  person  can  be  too  plainly  seen  by  the  light  of  that  fire, 
and  he  will  become  the  first  and  most  certain  victim." 

"  It  is  undeniable  that  now  you  speak  the  truth,"  returned 
the  scout,  betraying  more  anxiety  than  was  usual ;  "  yet  what 
can  be  done?  A  single  suspicious  look  might  bring  on  an 
attack  before  we  are  ready  to  receive  it.  He  knows,  by  the 
call  I  gave  to  Uncas,  that  we  have  struck  a  scent:  I  will 
tell  him  that  we  are  on  the  trail  of  the  Mingoes;  his  Indian 
nature  will  teach  him  now  to  act." 

The  scout  applied  his  fingers  to  his  mouth,  and  raised  a 
low  hissing  sound,  that  caused  Duncan,  at  first,  to  start 
aside,  believing  that  he  heard  a  serpent.  The  head  of 
Chingachgook  was  resting  on  a  hand,  as  he  sat  musing  by 
himself;  but  the  moment  he  heard  the  warning  of  the  ani- 
mal whose  name  he  bore,  it  arose  to  an  upright  position, 
and  his  dark  eyes  glanced  swiftly  and  keenly  on  every  side 
of  him.  With  this  sudden  and  perhaps  involuntary  move- 
ment, every  appearance  of  surprise  or  alarm  ended.  His 
rifle  lay  untouched,  and  apparently  unnoticed,  within  reach 
of  his  hand.  The  tomahawk  that  he  had  loosened  in  his 
belt  for  the  sake  of  ease,  was  even  suffered  to  fall  from  its 
usual  situation  to  the  ground,  and  his  form  seemed  to  sink 
like  that  of  a  man  whose  nerves  and  sinews  were  suffered 
to  relax  for  the  purpose  of  rest.  Cunningly  resuming  his 
former  position,  though  with  a  change  of  hands,  as  if  the 
movement  had  been  made  merely  to  relieve  the  limb,  the 
native  awaited  the  result  with  a  calmness  and  fortitude  that 
none  but  an  Indian  warrior  would  have  known  how  to 
exercise. 

But  Heyward  saw,  that  while  to  a  less  instructed  eye  the 


246  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

Mohican  chief  appeared  to  slumber,  his  nostrils  were  ex- 
panded, his  head  was  turned  a  little  to  one  side,  as  if  to 
assist  the  organs  of  hearing,  and  that  his  quick  and  rapid 
glances  ran  incessantly  over  every  object  within  the  power 
of  his  vision. 

"See  the  noble  fellow!  "  whispered  Hawk-eye,  pressing 
the  arm  of  Heyward;  "he  knows  that  a  look  or  a  motion 
might  disconsart  our  schemes,  and  put  us  at  the  mercy  of 
them  imps " 

He  was  interrupted  by  the  flash  and  report  of  a  rifle. 
The  air  was  filled  with  sparks  of  fire,  around  that  spot  where 
the  eyes  of  Heyward  were  still  fastened,  with  admiration 
and  wonder.  A  second  look  told  him  that  Chingachgook 
had  disappeared  in  the  confusion.  In  the  meantime,  the 
scout  had  thrown  forward  his  rifle,  like  one  prepared  for 
service,  and  awaited  impatiently  the  moment  when  an  enemy 
might  rise  to  view.  But  with  the  solitary  and  fruitless  at- 
tempt made  on  the  life  of  Chingachgook,  the  attack  ap- 
peared to  have  terminated.  Once  or  twice  the  listeners 
thought  they  could  distinguish  the  distant  rustling  of  bushes, 
as  bodies  of  some  unknown  description  rushed  through 
them;  nor  was  it  long  before  Hawk-eye  pointed  out  the 
"  scampering  of  the  wolves,"  as  they  fled  precipitately  be- 
fore the  passage  of  some  intruder  on  their  proper  domains. 
After  an  impatient  and  breathless  pause,  a  plunge  was 
heard  in  the  water,  and  it  was  immediately  followed  by  the 
report  of  another  rifle. 

"  There  goes  Uncas !  "  said  the  scout :  "  the  boy  bears  a 
smart  piece!  I  know  its  crack,  as  well  as  a  father  knows 
the  language  of  his  child,  for  I  carried  the  gun  myself  until 
a  better  offered." 

"  What  can  this  mean  ?  "  demanded  Duncan :  "  we  are 
watched,  and,  as  it  would  seem,  marked  for  destruction." 

"Yonder  scattered  brand  can  witness  that  no  good  was 
intended,  and  this  Indian  will  testify  that  no  harm  has  been 
done,"  returned  the  scout,  dropping  his  rifle  across  his  arm 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  247 

again,  and  following  Chingachgook,  who  just  then  re-ap- 
peared within  the  circle  of  light,  into  the  bosom  of  the 
works.  "  How  is  it,  Sagamore?  Are  the  Mingoes  upon  us 
in  earnest,  or  is  it  only  one  of  those  reptiles  who  hang  upon 
the  skirts  of  a  war  party,  to  scalp  the  dead,  go  in,  and  make 
their  boast  among  the  squaws  of  the  valiant  deeds  done  on 
the  pale-faces?  " 

Chingachgook  very  quietly  resumed  his  seat;  nor  did  he 
make  any  reply,  until  after  he  had  examined  the  firebrand 
which  had  been  struck  by  the  bullet  that  had  nearly  proved 
fatal  to  himself.  After  which,  he  was  content  to  reply, 
holding  a  single  finger  up  to  view,  with  the  English  mono- 
syllable— 

"One." 

"  I  thought  as  much,"  returned  Hawk-eye,  seating  him- 
self ;  "  and  as  he  had  got  the  cover  of  the  lake  afore  Uncas 
pulled  upon  him,  it  is  more  than  probable  the  knave  will 
sing  his  lies  about  some  great  ambushment,  in  which  he 
was  outlying  on  the  trail  of  two  Mohicans  and  a  white 
hunter — for  the  officers  can  be  considered  as  little  better 
than  idlers  in  such  a  skrimmage.  Well,  let  him — let  him. 
There  are  always  some  honest  men  in  every  nation,  though 
heaven  knows,  too,  that  they  are  scarce  among  the  Maquas, 
to  look  down  an  upstart  when  he  brags  ag'in  the  face  of  rea- 
son. The  varlet  sent  his  lead  within  whistle  of  your  ears, 
Sagamore." 

Chingachgook  turned  a  calm  and  incurious  eye  toward 
the  place  where  the  ball  had  struck,  and  then  resumed  his 
former  attitude,  with  a  composure  that  could  not  be  dis- 
turbed by  so  trifling  an  incident.  Just  then  Uncas  glided 
into  the  circle  and  seated  himself  at  the  fire,  with  the  same 
appearance  of  indifference  as  was  maintained  by  his  father. 

Of  these  several  movements  Heyward  was  a  deeply  in- 
terested and  wondering  observer.  It  appeared  to  him  as 
though  the  foresters  had  some  secret  means  of  intelligence, 
which  had  escaped  the  vigilance  of  his  own  faculties.     In 


248  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

place  of  that  eager  and  garrulous  narration  with  which  a 
white  youth  would  have  endeavored  to  communicate,  and 
perhaps  exaggerate,  that  which  had  passed  out  in  the  dark- 
ness of  the  plain,  the  young  warrior  was  seemingly  content 
to  let  his  deeds  speak  for  themselves.  It  was,  in  fact,  nei- 
ther the  moment  nor  the  occasion  for  an  Indian  to  boast  of 
his  exploits;  and  it  is  probable,  that  had  Heyward  neglected 
to  inquire,  not  another  syllable  would,  just  then,  have  been 
uttered  on  the  subject. 

"  What  has  become  of  our  enemy,  Uncas  ?  "  demanded 
Duncan :  "  we  heard  your  rifle,  and  hoped  you  had  not  fired 
in  vain." 

The  young  chief  removed  a  fold  of  his  hunting-shirt,  and 
quietly  exposed  the  fatal  tuft  of  hair,  which  he  bore  as  the 
symbol  of  victory.  Chingachgook  laid  his  hand  on  the 
scalp,  and  considered  it  for  a  moment  with  deep  attention. 
Then  dropping  it,  with  disgust  depicted  in  his  strong  fea- 
tures, he  ejaculated — • 

"Oneida!" 

"  Oneida !  "  repeated  the  scout,  who  was  fast  losing  his 
interest  in  the  scene,  in  an  apathy  nearly  assimilated  to  that 
of  his  red  associates,  but  who  now  advanced  with  uncommon 
earnestness  to  regard  the  bloody  badge.  "  By  the  Lord,  if 
the  Oneidas  are  outlying  upon  the  trail,  we  shall  be  flanked 
by  devils  on  every  side  of  us!  Now,  to  white  eyes  there  is 
no  difference  between  this  bit  of  skin  and  that  of  any  other 
Indian,  and  yet  the  Sagamore  declares  it  came  from  the  poll 
of  a  Mingo ;  nay,  he  even  names  the  tribe  of  the  poor  devil 
with  as  much  ease  as  if  the  scalp  was  the  leaf  of  a  book,  and 
each  hair  a  letter.  What  right  have  Christian  whites  to 
boast  of  their  learning,  when  a  savage  can  read  a  language 
that  would  prove  too  much  for  the  wisest  of  them  all! 
What  say  you,  lad ;  of  what  people  was  the  knave  ?  " 

Uncas  raised  his  eyes  to  the  face  of  the  scout,  and  an- 
swered in  his  soft  voice — 

"Oneida." 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  249 

"  Oneida,  again !  When  one  Indian  makes  a  declaration 
it  is  commonly  true ;  but  when  he  is  supported  by  his  people, 
set  it  down  as  gospel !  " 

"The  poor  fellow  has  mistaken  us  for  French,"  said  Hey- 
ward;  "or  he  would  not  have  attempted  the  life  of  a 
friend." 

"  He  mistake  a  Mohican  in  his  paint  for  a  Huron !  You 
would  be  as  likely  to  mistake  the  white-coated  grenadiers  of 
Montcalm  for  the  scarlet  jackets  of  the '  Royal  Americans,' " 
returned  the  scout.  "No,  no,  the  sarpent  knew  his  errand; 
nor  was  there  any  great  mistake  in  the  matter,  for  there  is 
but  little  love  atween  a  Delaware  and  a  Mingo,  let  their 
tribes  go  out  to  fight  for  whom  they  may,  in  a  white  quar- 
rel. For  that  matter,  though  the  Oneidas  do  serve  his  sa- 
cred majesty,  who  is  my  own  sovereign  lord  and  master,  I 
should  not  have  deliberated  long  about  letting  off '  Kill-deer ' 
at  the  imp  myself,  had  luck  thrown  him  in  my  way." 

"  That  would  have  been  an  abuse  of  our  treaties,  and  un- 
worthy of  your  character." 

"When  a  man  consorts  much  with  a  people,"  continued 
Hawk-eye,  "  if  they  are  honest  and  he  no  knave,  love  will 
grow  up  atwixt  them.  It  is  true  that  white  cunning  has 
managed  to  throw  the  tribes  into  great  confusion,  as  respects 
friends  and  enemies;  so  that  the  Hurons  and  the  Oneidas, 
who  speak  the  same  tongue,  or  what  may  be  called  the  same, 
take  each  other's  scalps,  and  the  Delawares  are  divided 
among  themselves;  a  few  hanging  about  their  great  council 
fire  on  their  own  river,  and  fighting  on  the  same  side  with  the 
Mingoes,  while  the  greater  part  are  in  the  Canadas,  out  of 
natural  enmity  to  the  Maquas — thus  throwing  everything  into 
disorder,  and  destroying  all  the  harmony  of  warfare.  Yet 
a  red  natur'  is  not  likely  to  alter  with  every  shift  of  policy; 
so  that  the  love  atwixt  a  Mohican  and  a  Mingo  is  much  like 
the  regard  between  a  white  man  and  a  sarpent." 

"I  regret  to  hear  it;  for  I  had  believed  those  natives 
who  dwelt  within  our  boundaries  had  found  us  too  just  and 


25O         THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

liberal,  not  to  identify  themselves  fully  with  our  quarrels." 
"Why,  I  believe  it  is  natur'  to  give  a  preference  to  one's 
own  quarrels  before  those  of  strangers.  Now,  for  myself,  I 
do  love  justice ;  and  therefore  I  will  not  say  I  hate  a  Mingo, 
— for  that  may  be  unsuitable  to  my  color  and  my  religion, 
—though  I  will  just  repeat,  it  may  have  been  owing  to  the 
night  that  'Kill-deer'  had  no  hand  in  the  death  of  this 
skulking  Oneida." 

Then,  as  if  satisfied  with  the  force  of  his  own  reasons, 
whatever  might  be  their  effect  on  the  opinions  of  the  other 
disputant,  the  honest  but  implacable  woodsman  turned  from 
the  fire,  content  to  let  the  controversy  slumber.  Heyward 
withdrew  to  the  rampart,  too  uneasy  and  too  little  accus- 
tomed to  the  warfare  of  the  woods,  to  remain  at  ease  under 
the  possibility  of  such  insidious  attacks.  Not  so,  however, 
with  the  scout  and  the  Mohicans.  Those  acute  and  long- 
practised  senses,  whose  powers  so  often  exceed  the  limits 
of  all  ordinary  credulity,  after  having  detected  the  danger, 
had  enabled  them  to  ascertain  its  magnitude  and  duration. 
Not  one  of  the  three  appeared  in  the  least  to  doubt  their 
perfect  security,  as  was  indicated  by  the  preparations  that 
were  soon  made  to  sit  in  council  over  their  future  proceed- 
ings. 

The  confusion  of  nations,  and  even  of  tribes,  to  which 
Hawk-eye  alluded,  existed  at  that  period  in  the  fullest 
force.  The  great  tie  of  language,  and,  of  course,  of  a  com- 
mon origin,  was  severed  in  many  places;  and  it  was  one  of 
its  consequences,  that  the  Delaware  and  the  Mingo  (as  the 
people  of  the  Six  Nations  were  called)  were  found  fight- 
ing in  the  same  ranks,  while  the  latter  sought  the  scalp 
of  the  Huron,  though  believed  to  be  the  root  of  his  own 
stock.  The  Delawares  were  even  divided  among  themselves. 
Though  love  for  the  soil  which  had  belonged  to  his  ances- 
tors kept  the  Sagamore  of  the  Mohicans,  with  a  small  band 
of  followers  who  were  serving  at  Edward,  under  the  banners 
of  the  English  king,  by  far  the  largest  portion  of  his  nation 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  25 1 

were  known  to  be  in  the  field  as  allies  of  Montcalm.  The 
reader  probably  knows,  if  enough  has  not  already  been 
gleaned  from  this  narrative,  that  the  Delaware,  or  Lenape, 
claimed  to  be  the  progenitors  of  that  numerous  people  who 
once  were  masters  of  most  of  the  eastern  and  northern  states 
of  America,  of  whom  the  community  of  the  Mohicans  was 
an  ancient  and  highly  honored  member. 

It  was,  of  course,  with  a  perfect  understanding  of  the 
minute  and  intricate  interests  which  had  armed  friend 
against  friend,  and  brought  natural  enemies  to  combat  by 
each  other's  side,  that  the  scout  and  his  companions  now 
disposed  themselves  to  deliberate  on  the  measures  that  were 
to  govern  their  future  movements,  amid  so  many  jarring  and 
savage  races  of  men.  Duncan  knew  enough  of  Indian  cus- 
toms to  understand  the  reason  that  the  fire  was  replenished, 
and  why  the  warriors,  not  excepting  Hawk-eye,  took  their 
seats  within  the  curl  of  its  smoke  with  so  much  gravity  and 
decorum.  Placing  himself  at  an  angle  of  the  works,  where 
he  might  be  a  spectator  of  the  scene  within,  while  he  kept 
a  watchful  eye  against  any  danger  from  without,  he  awaited 
the  result  with  as  much  patience  as  he  could  summon. 

•  After  a  short  and  impressive  pause,  Chingachgook  lighted 
a  pipe  whose  bowl  was  curiously  carved  in  one  of  the  soft 
stones  of  the  country,  and  whose  stem  was  a  tube  of  wood, 
and  commenced  smoking.  When  he  had  inhaled  enough  of 
the  fragrance  of  the  soothing  weed,  he  passed  the  instrument 
into  the  hands  of  the  scout.  In  this  manner  the  pipe  had 
made  its  rounds  three  several  times,  amid  the  most  profound 
silence,  before  either  of  the  party  opened  his  lips.  Then 
the  Sagamore,  as  the  oldest  and  highest  in  rank,  in  a  few 
calm  and  dignified  words,  proposed  the  subject  for  deliber- 
ation. He  was  answered  by  the  scout;  and  Chingachgook 
rejoined,  when  the  other  objected  to  his  opinions.  But  the 
youthful  Uncas  continued  a  silent  and  respectful  listener, 
until  Hawk-eye,  in  complaisance,  demanded  his  opinion. 
Heyward  gathered  from  the  manners  of  the  different  speak- 


252         THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

ers,  that  the  father  and  son  espoused  one  side  of  a  disputed 
question,  while  the  white  man  maintained  the  other.  The 
contest  gradually  grew  warmer  until  it  was  quite  evident 
the  feelings  of  the  speakers  began  to  be  somewhat  enlisted 
in  the  debate. 

Notwithstanding  the  increasing  warmth  of  the  amicable 
contest,  the  most  decorous  Christian  assembly,  not  even  ex- 
cepting those  in  which  its  reverend  ministers  are  collected, 
might  have  learned  a  wholesome  lesson  of  moderation  from 
the  forbearance  and  courtesy  of  the  disputants.  The  words 
of  Uncas  were  received  with  the  same  deep  attention  as 
those  which  fell  from  the  maturer  wisdom  of  his  father; 
and  so  far  from  manifesting  any  impatience,  neither  spoke 
in  reply,  until  a  few  moments  of  silent  meditation  were, 
seemingly,  bestowed  in  deliberating  on  what  had  already 
been  said. 

The  language  of  the  Mohicans  was  accompanied  by  ges- 
tures so  direct  and  natural,  that  Heyward  had  but  little 
difficulty  in  following  the  thread  of  their  argument.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  scout  was  obscure ;  because,  from  the 
lingering  pride  of  color,  he  rather  affected  the  cold  and  arti- 
ficial manner  which  characterizes  all  classes  of  Anglo- 
Americans,  when  unexcited.  By  the  frequency  with  which 
the  Indians  described  the  marks  of  a  forest  trail,  it  was  evi- 
dent they  urged  a  pursuit  by  land,  while  the  repeated  sweep 
of  Hawk-eye's  arm  toward  the  Horican  denoted  that  he  was 
for  a  passage  across  its  waters. 

The  latter  was,  to  every  appearance,  fast  losing  ground, 
and  the  point  was  about  to  be  decided  against  him,  when  he 
arose  to  his  feet,  and  shaking  off  his  apathy,  he  suddenly 
assumed  the  manner  of  an  Indian,  and  adopted  all  the  arts 
of  native  eloquence.  Elevating  an  arm,  he  pointed  out  the 
track  of  the  sun,  repeating  the  gesture  for  every  day  that 
was  necessary  to  accomplish  their  object.  Then  he  deline- 
ated a  long  and  painful  path,  amid  rocks  and  watercourses. 
The  age  and  weakness  of  the  slumbering  and  unconscious 


THE   LAST    OF   THE    MOHICANS.  253 

Munro  were  indicated  by  signs  too  palpable  to  be  mis- 
taken. Duncan  perceived  that  even  his  own  powers  were 
spoken  lightly  of,  as  the  scout  extended  his  palm,  and  men- 
tioned him  by  the  appellation  of  the  "  Open  Hand," — a 
name  his  liberality  had  purchased  of  all  the  friendly  tribes. 
Then  came  a  representation  of  the  light  and  graceful  move- 
ments of  a  canoe,  set  in  forcible  contrast  to  the  tottering 
steps  of  one  enfeebled  and  tired.  He  concluded  by  point- 
ing to  the  scalp  of  the  Oneida,  and  apparently  urging  the 
necessity  of  their  departing  speedily,  and  in  a  manner  that 
should  leave  no  trail. 

The  Mohicans  listened  gravely,  and  with  countenances 
that  reflected  the  sentiments  of  the  speaker.  Conviction 
gradually  wrought  its  influence,  and  toward  the  close  of 
Hawk-eye's  speech,  his  sentences  were  accompanied  by  the 
customary  exclamation  of  commendation.  In  short,  Uncas 
and  his  father  became  converts  to  his  way  of  thinking, 
abandoning  their  own  previously  expressed  opinions  with 
a  liberality  and  candor,  that,  had  they  been  the  representa- 
tives of  some  great  and  civilized  people,  would  have  infal- 
libly worked  their  political  ruin,  by  destroying,  for  ever,  their 
reputation  for  consistency. 

The  instant  the  matter  in  discussion  was  decided,  the 
debate,  and  everything  connected  with  it,  except  the  result, 
appeared  to  be  forgotten.  Hawk-eye,  without  looking  round 
to  read  his  triumph  in  applauding  eyes,  very  composedly 
stretched  his  tall  frame  before  the  dying  embers,  and  closed 
his  own  organs  in  sleep. 

Left  now  in  a  measure  to  themselves,  the  Mohicans,  whose 
time  had  been  so  much  devoted  to  the  interests  of  others, 
seized  the  moment  to  devote  some  attention  to  themselves. 
Casting  off,  at  once,  the  grave  and  austere  demeanor  of  an 
Indian  chief,  Chingachgook  commenced  speaking  to  his 
son  in  the  soft  and  playful  tones  of  affection.  Uncas 
gladly  met  the  familiar  air  of  his  father;  and  before  the 
hard  breathing  of  the  scout  announced  that  he  slept,  a  com- 


254  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

plete  change  was  effected  in  the  manner  of  his  two  associ- 
ates. 

It  is  impossible  to  describe  the  music  of  their  language, 
while  thus  engaged  in  laughter  and  endearments,  in  such  a 
way  as  to  render  it  intelligible  to  those  whose  ears  have 
never  listened  to  its  melody.  The  compass  of  their  voices, 
particularly  that  of  the  youth,  was  wonderful, — extending 
from  the  deepest  bass  to  tones  that  were  even  feminine  in 
softness.  The  eyes  of  the  father  followed  the  plastic  and 
ingenious  movements  of  the  son  with  open  delight,  and  he 
never  failed  to  smile  in  reply  to  the  other's  contagious,  but 
low  laughter.  While  under  the  influence  of  these  gentle 
and  natural  feelings,  no  trace  of  ferocity  was  to  be  seen  in 
the  softened  features  of  the  Sagamore.  His  figured  panoply 
of  death  looked  more  like  a  disguise  assumed  in  mockery, 
than  a  fierce  annunciation  of  a  desire  to  carry  destruction 
and  desolation  in  his  footsteps. 

After  an  hour  passed  in  the  indulgence  of  their  better 
feelings,  Chingachgook  abruptly  announced  his  desire  to 
sleep,  by  wrapping  his  head  in  his  blanket,  and  stretching 
his  form  on  the  naked  earth.  The  merriment  of  Uncas  in- 
stantly ceased ;  and  carefully  raking  the  coals  in  such  a 
manner  that  they  should  impart  their  warmth  to  his  father's 
feet,  the  youth  sought  his  own  pillow  among  the  ruins  of  the 
place. 

Imbibing  renewed  confidence  from  the  security  of  these 
experienced  foresters,  Heyward  soon  imitated  their  exam- 
ple; and  long  before  the  night  had  turned,  they  who  lay  in 
the  bosom  of  the  ruined  work,  seemed  to  slumber  as  heavily 
as  the  unconscious  multitude  whose  bones  were  already  be- 
ginning to  bleach  on  the  surrounding  plain. 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS.  255 


CHAPTER   XX. 

Land  of  Albania  !  let  me  bend  mine  eyes 
On  thee,  thou  rugged  nurse  of  savage  men  ! 

Childe  Harold. 

The  heavens  were  still  studded  with  stars,  when  Hawk-eye 
came  to  arouse  the  sleepers.  Casting  aside  their  cloaks, 
Munro  and  Heyward  were  on  their  feet,  while  the  woods- 
man was  still  making  his  low  calls,  at  the  entrance  of  the 
rude  shelter  where  they  had  passed  the  night.  When  they 
issued  from  beneath  its  concealment,  they  found  the  scout 
awaiting  their  appearance  nigh  by,  and  the  only  salutation 
between  them  was  the  significant  gesture  for  silence,  made 
by  their  sagacious  leader. 

"Think  over  your  prayers,"  he  whispered,  as  they  ap- 
proached him;  "for  he,  to  whom  you  make  them,  knows  all 
tongues;  that  of  the  heart,  as  well  as  those  of  the  mouth. 
But  speak  not  a  syllable ;  it  is  rare  for  a  white  voice  to  pitch 
itself  properly  in  the  woods,  as  we  have  seen  by  the  exam- 
ple of  that  miserable  devil,  the  singer.  Come,"  he  contin- 
ued, turning  toward  a  curtain  of  the  works;  "  let  us  get  into 
the  ditch  on  this  side,  and  be  regardful  to  step  on  the  stones 
and  fragments  of  wood  as  you  go." 

His  companions  complied,  though  to  two  of  them  the  rea- 
sons of  this  extraordinary  precaution  were  yet  a  mystery. 
When  they  were  in  the  low  cavity  that  surrounded  the 
earthen  fort  on  three  of  its  sides,  they  found  the  passage 
nearly  choked  by  the  ruins.  With  care  and  patience,  how- 
ever, they  succeeded  in  clambering  after  the  scout,  until  they 
reached  the  sandy  shore  of  the  Horican. 

"That's  a  trail  that  nothing  but  a  nose  can  follow,"  said 
the  satisfied  scout,  looking  back  along  their  difficult  way ; 
"grass  is  a  treacherous  carpet  for  a  flying  party  to  tread  on, 
but  wood  and  stone  take  no  print  from  a  moccasin.  Had 
you  worn  your  armed  boots,  there  might,  indeed,  have  been 


'256  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

something  to  fear;  but  with  the  deer-skin  suitably  prepared, 
a  man  may  trust  himself,  generally,  on  rocks  with  safety. 
Shove  in  the  canoe  nigher  to  the  land,  Uncas;  this  sand 
will  take  a  stamp  as  easily  as  the  butter  of  the  Jarmans  on 
the  Mohawk.  Softly,  lad,  softly;  it  must  not  touch  the 
beach,  or  the  knaves  will  know  by  what  road  we  have  left 
the  place." 

The  young  man  observed  the  precaution;  and  the  scout, 
laying  a  board  from  the  ruins  to  the  canoe,  made  a  sign  for 
the  two  officers  to  enter.  When  this  was  done,  everything 
was  studiously  restored  to  its  former  disorder;  and  then 
Hawk-eye  succeeded  in  reaching  his  little  birchen  vessel, 
without  leaving  behind  him  any  of  those  marks  which  he 
appeared  so  much  to  dread.  Heyward  was  silent,  until  the 
Indians  had  cautiously  paddled  the  canoe  some  distance 
from  the  fort,  and  within  the  broad  and  dark  shadow  that 
fell  from  the  eastern  mountain,  on  the  glassy  surface  of  the 
lake;  then  he  demanded — 

"  What  need  have  we  for  this  stolen  and  hurried  de- 
parture ?  " 

"  If  the  blood  of  an  Oneida  could  stain  such  a  sheet  of 
pure  water  as  this  we  float  on,"  returned  the  scout,  "your 
two  eyes  would  answer  your  own  question.  Have  you  for- 
gotten the  skulking  reptyle  that  Uncas  slew?  " 

"  By  no  means.  But  he  was  said  to  be  alone,  and  dead 
men  give  no  cause  for  fear." 

'  Ay,  he  was  alone  in  his  deviltry!  but  an  Indian,  whose 
tribe  counts  so  many  warriors,  need  seldom  fear  his  blood 
will  run,  without  the  death-shriek  coming  speedily  from 
some  of  his  enemies." 

"  But  our  presence — the  authority  of  Colonel  Munro 
would  prove  a  sufficient  protection  against  the  anger  of  our 
allies,  especially  in  a  case  where  the  wretch  so  well  merited 
his  fate.  I  trust  in  Heaven  you  have  not  deviated  a  single 
foot  from  the  direct  line  of  our  course,  with  so  slight  a 
reason." 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS.  257 

"  Do  you  think  the  bullet  of  that  varlet's  rifle  would  have 
turned  aside,  though  his  sacred  Majesty  the  King  had  stood 
in  its  path  ?  "  returned  the  stubborn  scout.  "  Why  did  not 
the  grand  Frencher,  he  who  is  captain-general  of  the  Cana- 
das,  bury  the  tomahawks  of  the  Hurons,  if  a  word  from  a 
white  can  work  so  strongly  on  the  natur'  of  an  Indian?  " 

The  reply  of  Heyward  was  interrupted  by  a  groan  from 
Munro;  but  after  he  had  paused  a  moment,  in  deference  to 
the  sorrow  of  his  aged  friend,  he  resumed  the  subject. 

"  The  Marquis  of  Montcalm  can  only  settle  that  error 
with  his  God,"  said  the  young  man  solemnly. 

"  Ay,  ay,  now  there  is  reason  in  your  words,  for  they  are 
bottomed  on  religion  and  honesty.  There  is  a  vast  differ- 
ence between  throwing  a  regiment  of  white  coats  atwixt  the 
tribes  and  the  prisoners,  and  coaxing  an  angry  savage  to 
forget  he  carries  a  knife  and  a  rifle,  with  words  that  must 
begin  with  calling  him  '  your  son.'  No,  no,"  continued  the 
scout,  looking  back  at  the  dim  shore  of  William  Henry, 
which  was  now  fast  receding,  and  laughing  in  his  own  si- 
lent but  heartfelt  manner;  "I  have  put  a  trail  of  water 
atween  us;  and  unless  the  imps  can  make  friends  with  the 
fishes,  and  hear  who  has  paddled  across  their  basin,  this 
fine  morning,  we  shall  throw  the  length  of  the  Horican  be- 
hind us,  before  they  have  made  up  their  minds  which  path 
to  take." 

"  With  foes  in  front,  and  foes  in  our  rear,  our  journey  is 
like  to  be  one  of  danger." 

"Danger!"  repeated  Hawk-eye,  calmly;  "no,  not  abso- 
lutely of  danger;  for,  with  vigilant  ears  and  quick  eyes,  we 
can  manage  to  keep  a  few  hours  ahead  of  the  knaves;  or,  if 
we  must  try  the  rifle,  there  are  three  of  us  who  understand 
its  gifts  as  well  as  any  you  can  name  on  the  borders.  No, 
not  of  danger;  but  that  we  shall  have  what  you  may  call  a 
brisk  push  of  it,  is  probable;  and  it  may  happen,  a  brush, 
a  skrimmage,  or  some  such  divarsion,  but  always  where 
covers  are  good,  and  ammunition  abundant." 
17 


258  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

It  is  possible  that  Heyward's  estimate  of  danger  differed 
in  some  degree  from  that  of  the  scout,  for,  instead  of  reply- 
ing, he  now  sat  in  silence,  while  the  canoe  glided  over  sev- 
eral miles  of  water.  Just  as  the  day  dawned,  they  entered 
the  narrows  of  the  lake,*  and  stole  swiftly  and  cautiously 
among  their  numberless  little  islands.  It  was  by  this  road 
that  Montcalm  had  retired  with  his  army,  and  the  adventur- 
ers knew  not  but  he  had  left  some  of  his  Indians  in  am- 
bush, to  protect  the  rear  of  his  forces,  and  collect  the  strag- 
glers. They,  therefore,  approached  the  passage  with  the 
customary  silence  of  their  guarded  habits. 

Chingachgook  laid  aside  his  paddle;  while  Uncas  and 
the  scout  urged  the  light  vessel  through  crooked  and  intri- 
cate channels,  where  every  foot  that  they  advanced  exposed 
them  to  the  danger  of  some  sudden  rising  on  their  progress. 
The  eyes  of  the  Sagamore  moved  warily  from  islet  to  islet, 
and  copse  to  copse,  as  the  canoe  proceeded;  and  when  a 
clearer  sheet  of  water  permitted,  his  keen  vision  was  bent 
along  the  bald  rocks  and  impending  forests,  that  frowned 
upon  the  narrow  strait. 

Heyward,  who  was  a  doubly  interested  spectator,  as  well 
from  the  beauties  of  the  place  as  from  the  apprehension  natu- 
ral to  his  situation,  was  just  believing  that  he  permitted  the 
latter  to  be  excited  without  sufficient  reason,  when  the  paddle 
ceased  moving, in  obedience  to  a  signal  from  Chingachgook. 


*  The  beauties  of  Lake  George  are  well  known  to  every  American  tourist.  In  the 
height  of  the  mountains  which  surround  it,  and  in  artificial  accessories,  it  is  inferior  to 
the  finest  of  the  Swiss  and  Italian  lakes,  while  in  outline  and  purity  of  water  it  is  fully 
their  equal ;  and  in  the  number  and  disposition  of  its  isles  and  islets  much  superior  to 
them  altogether.  There  are  said  to  be  some  hundreds  of  islands  in  a  sheet  of  water 
less  than  thirty  miles  long.  The  narrows  which  connect  what  may  be  called,  in  truth, 
two  lakes,  are  crowded  with  islands  to  such  a  degree  as  to  leave  passages  between  them 
frequently  of  only  a  few  feet  in  width.  The  lake,  itself,  varies  in  breadth  from  one 
to  three  miles. 

The  state  of  New  York  is  remarkable  for  the  number  and  beauty  of  its  lakes.  One 
of  its  frontiers  lies  on  the  vast  sheet  of  Ontario,  while  Champlain  stretches  nearly  a 
hundred  miles  along  another.  Oneida,  Cayuga,  Canandaigua,  Seneca,  and  George, 
are  all  lakes  of  thirty  miles  in  length,  while  those  of  a  size  smaller  are  without  number. 
On  most  of  these  lakes,  there  are  now  beautiful  villages,  and  on  many  of  them  steam- 
boats. 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  259 

"Hugh!"  exclaimed  Uncas,  nearly  at  the  moment  that 
the  light  tap  his  father  had  made  on  the  side  of  the  canoe 
notified  them  of  the  vicinity  of  danger. 

"What  now?"  asked  the  scout;  "  the  lake  is  as  smooth 
as  if  the  winds  had  never  blown,  and  I  can  see  along  its 
sheet  for  miles;  there  is  not  so  much  as  the  black  head  of 
a  loon  dotting  the  water." 

The  Indian  gravely  raised  his  paddle,  and  pointed  in  the 
direction  in  which  his  own  steady  look  was  riveted.  Dun- 
can's eyes  followed  the  motion.  A  few  rods  in  their  front 
lay  another  of  the  low  wooded  islets,  but  it  appeared  as 
calm  and  peaceful  as  if  its  solitude  had  never  been  disturbed 
by  the  foot  of  man. 

"I  see  nothing,"  he  said,  "but  land  and  water;  and  a 
lovely  scene  it  is." 

"Hist!"  interrupted  the  scout.  "Ay,  Sagamore,  there  is 
always  a  reason  for  what  you  do.  'Tis  but  a  shade,  and  yet 
it  is  not  natural.  You  see  the  mist,  Major,  that  is  rising 
above  the  island;  you  can't  call  it  a  fog,  for  it  is  more  like 
a  streak  of  thin  cloud — " 

"  It  is  vapor  from  the  water." 

"  That  a  child  could  tell.  But  what  is  the  edging  of 
blacker  smoke  that  hangs  along  its  lower  side,  and  which 
you  may  trace  down  into  the  thicket  of  hazel?  'Tis  from  a 
fire;  but  one  that,  in  my  judgment,  has  been  suffered  to 
burn  low." 

"  Let  us  then  push  for  the  place,  and  relieve  our  doubts," 
said  the  impatient  Duncan;  "the  party  must  be  small  that 
can  lie  on  such  a  bit  of  land." 

"If  you  judge  of  Indian  cunning  by  the  rules  you  find  in 
books,  or  by  white  sagacity,  they  will  lead  you  astray,  if  not 
to  your  death,"  returned  Hawk-eye,  examining  the  signs  of 
the  place  with  that  acuteness  which  distinguished  him.  "  If 
I  may  be  permitted  to  speak  in  this  matter,  it  will  be  to  say, 
that  we  have  but  two  things  to  choose  between  :  the  one  is,  to 
return,  and  give  up  all  thoughts  of  following  the  Hurons — " 


26o         THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

"Never!"  exclaimed  Hey  ward,  in  a  voice  far  too  loud 
for  their  circumstances. 

"  Well,  well,"  continued  Hawk-eye,  making  a  hasty  sign 
to  repress  his  impatience;  "I  am  much  of  your  mind  my- 
self;  though  I  thought  it  becoming  my  experience  to  tell 
the  whole.  We  must  then  make  a  push,  and  if  the  Indians 
or  Frenchers  are  in  the  narrows,  run  the  gauntlet  through 
these  toppling  mountains.  Is  there  reason  in  my  words, 
Sagamore?  " 

The  Indian  made  no  other  answer  than  by  dropping  his 
paddle  into  the  water,  and  urging  forward  the  canoe.  As 
he  held  the  office  of  directing  its  course,  his  resolution  was 
sufficiently  indicated  by  the  movement.  The  whole  party 
now  plied  their  paddles  vigorously,  and  in  a  very  few  mo- 
ments they  had  reached  a  point  whence  they  might  command 
an  entire  view  of  the  northern  shore  of  the  island,  the  side 
that  had  hitherto  been  concealed. 

"  There  they  are,  by  all  the  truth  of  signs,"  whispered  the 
scout;  " two  canoes  and  a  smoke.  The  knaves  haven't  yet 
got  their  eyes  out  of  the  mist,  or  we  should  hear  the  accursed 
whoop.  Together,  friends — we  are  leaving  them,  and  are 
already  nearly  out  of  whistle  of  a  bullet." 

The  well  known  crack  of  a  rifle,  whose  ball  came  skip- 
ping along  the  placid  surface  of  the  strait,  and  a  shrill  yell 
from  the  island  interrupted  his  speech,  and  announced  that 
their  passage  was  discovered.  In  another  instant  several 
savages  were  seen  rushing  into  the  canoes,  which  were  soon 
dancing  over  the  water,  in  pursuit.  These  fearful  precur- 
sors of  a  coming  struggle  produced  no  change  in  the  coun- 
tenances and  movements  of  his  three  guides,  so  far  as  Dun- 
can could  discover,  except  that  the  strokes  of  their  paddles 
were  longer  and  more  in  unison,  and  caused  the  little  bark 
to  spring  forward  like  a  creature  possessing  life  and  voli- 
tion. 

"  Hold  them  there,  Sagamore,"  said  Hawk-eye,  looking 
coolly  backward  over  his  left  shoulder,  while  he  still  plied 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  26 1 

his  paddle;  "keep  them  just  there.  Them  Hurons  have 
never  a  piece  in  their  nation  that  will  execute  at  this  dis- 
tance; but '  Kill-deer '  has  a  barrel  on  which  a  man  may 
calculate." 

The  scout  having  ascertained  that  the  Mohicans  were 
sufficient  of  themselves  to  maintain  the  requisite  distance, 
deliberately  laid  aside  his  paddle,  and  raised  the  fatal  rifle. 
Three  several  times  he  brought  the  piece  to  his  shoulder, 
and  when  his  companions  were  expecting  its  report,  he  as 
often  lowered  it  to  request  the  Indians  would  permit  their 
enemies  to  approach  a  little  nigher.  At  length  his  accurate 
and  fastidious  eye  seemed  satisfied,  and  throwing  out  his 
left  arm  on  the  barrel,  he  was  slowly  elevating  the  muzzle, 
when  an  exclamation  from  Uncas,  who  sat  in  the  bow,  once 
more  caused  him  to  suspend  the  shot. 

"What  now,  lad?"  demanded  Hawk-eye;  "you  saved 
a  Huron  from  the  death-shriek  by  that  word;  have  you 
reason  for  what  you  do?  " 

Uncas  pointed  toward  the  rocky  shore  a  little  in  their 
front,  whence  another  war  canoe  was  darting  directly  across 
their  course.  It  was  too  obvious  now  that  their  situation 
was  imminently  perilous,  to  need  the  aid  of  language  to  con- 
firm it.  The  scout  laid  aside  his  rifle,  and  resumed  the 
paddle,  while  Chingachgook  inclined  the  bows  of  the  canoe 
a  little  toward  the  western  shore,  in  order  to  increase  the 
distance  between  them  and  this  new  enemy.  In  the  mean 
time  they  were  reminded  of  the  presence  of  those  who  pressed 
upon  their  rear,  by  wild  and  exultant  shouts.  The  stirring 
scene  awakened  even  Munro  from  his  apathy. 

"  Let  us  make  for  the  rocks  on  the  main,"  he  said,  with 
the  mien  of  a  tried  soldier,  "  and  give  battle  to  the  savages. 
God  forbid  that  I,  or  those  attached  to  me  and  mine,  should 
ever  trust  again  to  the  faith  of  any  servant  of  the  Louises!  " 

"  He  who  wishes  to  prosper  in  Indian  warfare,"  returned 
the  scout,  "  must  not  be  too  proud  to  learn  from  the  wit  of 
a  native.     Lay  her  more  along  the  land,  Sagamore ;  we  are 


262  THE   LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

doubling  on  the  varlets,  and  perhaps  they  may  try  to  strike 
our  trail  on  the  long  calculation." 

Hawk-eye  was  not  mistaken;  for  when  the  Hurons  found 
their  course  was  likely  to  throw  them  behind  their  chase, 
they  rendered  it  less  direct,  until,  by  gradually  bearing  more 
and  more  obliquely,  the  two  canoes  were,  ere  long,  gliding 
on  parallel  lines,  within  two  hundred  yards  of  each  other. 
It  now  became  entirely  a  trial  of  speed.  So  rapid  was  the 
progress  of  the  light  vessels,  that  the  lake  curled  in  their 
front,  in  miniature  waves,  and  their  motion  became  undu- 
lating by  its  own  velocity.  It  was,  perhaps,  owing  to  this 
circumstance,  in  addition  to  the  necessity  of  keeping  every 
hand  employed  at  the  paddles,  that  the  Hurons  had  not  im- 
mediate recourse  to  their  fire-arms.  The  exertions  of  the 
fugitives  were  too  severe  to  continue  long,  and  the  pursuers 
had  the  advantage  of  numbers.  Duncan  observed,  with  un- 
easiness, that  the  scout  began  to  look  anxiously  about  him, 
as  if  searching  for  some  further  means  of  assisting  their 
flight. 

"  Edge  her  a  little  more  from  the  sun,  Sagamore,"  said 
the  stubborn  woodsman ;  "  I  see  the  knaves  are  sparing  a 
man  to  the  rifle.  A  single  broken  bone  might  lose  us  our 
scalps.  Edge  more  from  the  sun  and  we  will  put  the  island 
between  us." 

The  expedient  was  not  without  its  use.  A  long,  low  isl- 
and lay  at  a  little  distance  before  them,  and  as  they  closed 
with  it,  the  chasing  canoe  was  compelled  to  take  a  side  op- 
posite to  that  on  which  the  pursued  passed.  The  scout  and 
his  companions  did  not  neglect  this  advantage,  but  the  in- 
stant they  were  hid  from  observation  by  the  bushes,  they  re- 
doubled efforts  that  before  had  seemed  prodigious.  The  two 
canoes  came  around  the  last  low  point,  like  two  coursers  at 
the  top  of  their  speed,  the  fugitives  taking  the  lead.  This 
change  had  brought  them  nigher  to  each  other,  however, 
while  it  altered  their  relative  positions. 

"  You  showed  knowledge  in  the  shaping  of  birchen  bark, 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS.  263 

Uncas,  when  you  chose  this  from  among  the  Huron  canoes." 
said  the  scout,  smiling,  apparently  more  in  satisfaction  at 
their  superiority  in  the  race,  than  from  that  prospect  of  final 
escape  which  now  began  to  open  a  little  upon  them.  "The 
imps  have  put  all  their  strength  again  at  the  paddles,  and 
we  are  to  struggle  for  our  scalps  with  bits  of  flattened  wood, 
instead  of  clouded  barrels  and  true  eyes.  A  long  stroke, 
and  together,  friends." 

"  They  are  preparing  for  a  shot,"  said  Heyward;  "  and  as 
we  are  in  a  line  with  them,  it  can  scarcely  fail." 

"  Get  you  then  into  the  bottom  of  the  canoe,"  returned 
the  scout;  "you  and  the  colonel;  it  will  be  so  much  taken 
from  the  size  of  the  mark." 

Heyward  smiled,  as  he  answered — 

"It  would  be  but  an  ill  example  for  the  highest  in  rank 
to  dodge,  while  the  warriors  were  under  fire! ' 

"Lord!  Lord!  that  is  now  a  white  man's  courage!"  ex- 
claimed the  scout;  "and  like  too  many  of  his  notions,  not 
to  be  maintained  by  reason.  Do  you  think  the  Sagamore, 
or  Uncas,  or  even  I,  who  am  a  man  without  a  cross,  would 
deliberate  about  finding  a  cover  in  the  skrimmage,  when  an 
open  body  would  do  no  good  ?  For  what  have  the  Frenchers 
reared  up  their  Quebec,  if  fighting  is  always  to  be  done  in 
the  clearings?" 

"All  that  you  say  is  very  true,  my  friend,"  replied  Hey- 
ward ;  "  still,  our  customs  must  prevent  us  from  doing  as 
you  wish." 

A  volley  from  the  Hurons  interrupted  the  discourse,  and 
as  the  bullets  whistled  about  them,  Duncan  saw  the  head  of 
Uncas  turned,  looking  back  at  himself  and  Munro.  Not- 
withstanding the  nearness  of  the  enemy,  and  his  own  great 
personal  danger,  the  countenance  of  the  young  warrior  ex- 
pressed no  other  emotion,  as  the  former  was  compelled  to 
think,  than  amazement  at  finding  men  willing  to  encounter 
so  useless  an  exposure.  Chingachgook  was  probably  better 
acquainted  with  the  notions  of  white  men,  for  he  did  not 


264  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

even  cast  a  glance  aside  from  the  riveted  look  his  eye  main- 
tained on  the  object  by  which  he  governed  their  course.  A 
ball  soon  struck  the  light  and  polished  paddle  from  the 
hands  of  the  chief,  and  drove  it  through  the  air,  far  in  the 
advance.  A  shout  rose  from  the  Hurons,  who  seized  the 
opportunity  to  fire  another  volley.  Uncas  described  an  arc 
in  the  water  with  his  own  blade,  and  as  the  canoe  passed 
swiftly  on,  Chingachgook  recovered  his  paddle,  and  flourish- 
ing it  on  high,  he  gave  the  warwhoop  of  the  Mohicans,  and 
then  lent  his  strength  and  skill  again  to  the  important  task. 

The  clamorous  sounds  of  "Le  gros  Serpent!"  "La 
longue  Carabine!"  "LeCerf  agile!"  burst  at  once  from 
the  canoes  behind,  and  seemed  to  give  new  zeal  to  the  pur- 
suers. The  scout  seized  "Kill-deer"  in  his  left  hand,  and 
elevating  it  above  his  head,  he  shook  it  in  triumph  at  his 
enemies.  The  savages  answered  the  insult  with  a  yell,  and 
immediately  another  volley  succeeded.  The  bullets  pattered 
along  the  lake,  and  one  even  pierced  the  bark  of  their  little 
vessel.  No  perceptible  emotion  could  be  discovered  in  the 
Mohicans  during  this  critical  moment,  their  rigid  features 
expressing  neither  hope  nor  alarm ;  but  the  scout  again 
turned  his  head,  and  laughing  in  his  own  silent  manner,  he 
said  to  Heyward — 

"The  knaves  love  to  hear  the  sounds  of  their  pieces;  but 
the  eye  is  not  to  be  found  among  the  Mingoes  that  can  cal- 
culate a  true  range  in  a  dancing  canoe!  You  see  the  dumb 
devils  have  taken  off  a  man  to  charge,  and  by  the  smallest 
measurement  that  can  be  allowed,  we  move  three  feet  to 
their  two!  " 

Duncan,  who  was  not  altogether  as  easy  under  this  nice 
estimate  of  distances  as  his  companions,  was  glad  to  find, 
however,  that  owing  to  their  superior  dexterity,  and  the  di- 
version among  their  enemies,  they  were  very  sensibly  obtain- 
ing the  advantage.  The  Hurons  soon  fired  again,  and 
a  bullet  struck  the  blade  of  Hawk-eye's  paddle  without 
injury. 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS,  265 

"That  will  do,"  said  the  scout,  examining  the  slight  in- 
dentation with  a  curious  eye;  "it  would  not  have  cut  the 
skin  of  an  infant,  much  less  of  men,  who,  like  us,  have  been 
blown  upon  by  the  Heavens  in  their  anger.  Now,  Major, 
if  you  will  try  to  use  this  piece  of  flattened  wood,  I'll  let 
4  Kill-deer '  take  a  part  in  the  conversation." 

Heyward  seized  the  paddle,  and  applied  himself  to  the 
work  with  an  eagerness  that  supplied  the  place  of  skill, 
while  Hawk-eye  was  engaged  in  inspecting  the  priming  of 
his  rifle.  The  latter  then  took  swift  aim,  and  fired.  The 
Huron  in  the  bows  of  the  leading  canoe  had  risen  with  a 
similar  object,  and  he  now  fell  backward,  suffering  his  gun 
to  escape  from  his  hands  into  the  water.  In  an  instant, 
however,  he  recovered  his  feet,  though  his  gestures  were 
wild  and  bewildered.  At  the  same  moment  his  companions 
suspended  their  efforts,  and  the  chasing  canoes  clustered 
together,  and  became  stationary.  Chingachgook  and  Uncas 
profited  by  the  interval  to  regain  their  wind,  though  Duncan 
continued  to  work  with  the  most  persevering  industry.  The 
father  and  son  now  cast  calm  but  inquiring  glances  at  each 
other,  to  learn  if  either  had  sustained  any  injury  by  the  fire; 
for  both  well  knew  that  no  cry  or  exclamation  would,  in 
such  a  moment  of  necessity,  have  been  permitted  to  betray 
the  accident.  A  few  large  drops  of  blood  were  trickling 
down  the  shoulder  of  the  Sagamore,  who,  when  he  perceived 
that  the  eyes  of  Uncas  dwelt  too  long  on  the  sight,  raised 
some  water  in  the  hollow  of  his  hand,  and  washing  off  the 
stain,  was  content  to  manifest,  in  this  simple  manner,  the 
slightness  of  the  injury. 

"  Softly,  softly,  Major,"  said  the  scout,  who  by  this  time 
had  reloaded  his  rifle;  "we  are  a  little  too  far  already  for 
a  rifle  to  put  forth  its  beauties,  and  you  see  yonder  imps  are 
holding  a  council.  Let  them  come  up  within  striking  dis- 
tance— my  eye  may  well  be  trusted  in  such  a  matter — and 
I  will  trail  the  varlets  the  length  of  the  Horican,  guarantee- 
ing that  not  a  shot  of  theirs  shall,  at  the  worst,  more  than 


266  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

break  the  skin,  while  '  Kill-deer'  shall  touch  the  life  twice 
in  three  times." 

"We  forget  our  errand,"  returned  the  diligent  Duncan. 
"  For  God's  sake  let  us  profit  by  this  advantage,  and  in- 
crease our  distance  from  the  enemy." 

"Give  me  my  children,"  said  Munro,  hoarsely;  "trifle 
no  longer  with  a  father's  agony,  but  restore  me  my 
babes." 

Long  and  habitual  deference  to  the  mandates  of  his  su- 
perior had  taught  the  scout  the  virtue  of  obedience.  Throw- 
ing a  last  and  lingering  glance  at  the  distant  canoes,  he  laid 
aside  his  rifle,  and  relieving  the  wearied  Duncan,  resumed 
the  paddle,  which  he  wielded  with  sinews  that  never  tired. 
His  efforts  were  seconded  by  those  of  the  Mohicans,  and  a 
very  few  minutes  served  to  place  such  a  sheet  of  water  be- 
tween them  and  their  enemies,  that  Heyward  once  more 
breathed  freely. 

The  lake  now  began  to  expand,  and  their  route  lay  along 
a  wide  reach,  that  was  lined,  as  before,  by  high  and  ragged 
mountains.  But  the  islands  were  few,  and  easily  avoided. 
The  strokes  of  the  paddles  grew  more  measured  and  regu- 
lar, while  they  who  plied  them  continued  their  labor,  after 
the  close  and  deadly  chase  from  which  they  had  just  re- 
lieved themselves,  with  as  much  coolness  as  though  their 
speed  had  been  tried  in  sport,  rather  than  under  such  press- 
ing, nay,  almost  desperate  circumstances. 

Instead  of  following  the  western  shore,  whither  their  er- 
rand led  them,  the  wary  Mohican  inclined  his  course  more 
toward  those  hills  behind  which  Montcalm  was  known  to 
have  led  his  army  into  the  formidable  fortress  of  Ticon- 
deroga.  As  the  Hurons,  to  every  appearance,  had  aban- 
doned the  pursuit,  there  was  no  apparent  reason  for  this 
excess  of  caution.  It  was,  however,  maintained  for  hours, 
until  they  had  reached  a  bay,  nigh  the  northern  termination 
of  the  lake.  Here  the  canoe  was  driven  upon  the  beach, 
and  the  whole  party  landed.     Hawk-eye  and  Heyward  as- 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  267 

cended  an  adjacent  bluff,  where  the  former,  after  consider- 
ing the  expanse  of  water  beneath  him,  pointed  out  to  the 
latter  a  small  black  object,  hovering  under  a  headland,  at 
the  distance  of  several  miles. 

"Do  you  see  it?"  demanded  the  scout.  "Now,  what 
would  you  account  that  spot,  were  you  left  alone  to  white 
experience  to  find  your  way  through  this  wilderness?  " 

"  But  for  its  distance  and  its  magnitude,  I  should  suppose 
it  a  bird.     Can  it  be  a  living  object?  " 

"  'Tis  a  canoe  of  good  birchen  bark,  and  paddled  by  fierce 
and  crafty  Mingoes.  Though  Providence  has  lent  to  those 
who  inhabit  the  woods  eyes  that  would  be  needless  to  men 
in  the  settlements,  where  there  are  inventions  to  assist  the 
sight,  yet  no  human  organs  can  see  all  the  dangers  which  at 
this  moment  circumvent  us.  These  varlets  pretend  to  be 
bent  chiefly  on  their  sun-down  meal,  but  the  moment  it  is 
dark  they  will  be  on  our  trail,  as  true  as  hounds  on  the 
scent.  We  must  throw  them  off,  or  our  pursuit  of  Le 
Renard  subtil  may  be  given  up.  These  lakes  are  useful 
at  times,  especially  when  the  game  takes  the  water,"  contin- 
ued the  scout,  gazing  about  him  with  a  countenance  of  con- 
cern ;  "  but  they  give  no  cover,  except  it  be  to  the  fishes. 
God  knows  what  the  country  would  be,  if  the  settlements 
should  ever  spread  far  from  the  two  rivers.  Both  hunting 
and  war  would  lose  their  beauty." 

"Let  us  not  delay  a  moment,  without  some  good  and 
obvious  cause." 

"  I  little  like  that  smoke,  which  you  may  see  worming  up 
along  the  rock  above  the  canoe,"  interrupted  the  abstracted 
scout.  "  My  life  on  it,  other  eyes  than  ours  see  it,  and  know 
its  meaning.  Well,  words  will  not  mend  the  matter,  and  it 
is  time  that  we  were  doing." 

Hawk-eye  moved  away  from  the  look-out,  and  descended, 
musing  profoundly,  to  the  shore.  He  communicated  the 
result  of  his  observations  to  his  companions,  in  Delaware, 
and  a  short  and  earnest  consultation  succeeded.      When  it 


268  THE    LAST   OF   THE    MOHICANS. 

terminated,  the  three  instantly  set  about  executing  their  new 
resolutions. 

The  canoe  was  lifted  from  the  water,  and  borne  on  the 
shoulders  of  the  party.  They  proceeded  into  the  wood, 
making  as  broad  and  obvious  a  trail  as  possible.  They 
soon  reached  a  water-course,  which  they  crossed,  and  con- 
tinued onward,  until  they  came  to  an  extensive  and  naked 
rock.  At  this  point,  where  their  footsteps  might  be  ex- 
pected to  be  no  longer  visible,  they  retraced  their  route  to 
the  brook,  walking  backward,  with  the  utmost  care.  They 
now  followed  the  bed  of  the  little  stream  to  the  lake,  into 
which  they  immediately  launched  their  canoe  again.  A 
low  point  concealed  them  from  the  headland,  and  the  mar- 
gin of  the  lake  was  fringed  for  some  distance  with  dense 
and  over-hanging  bushes.  Under  the  cover  of  these  natural 
advantages,  they  toiled  their  way,  with  patient  industry,  un- 
til the  scout  pronounced  that  he  believed  it  would  be  safe 
once  more  to  land. 

The  halt  continued  until  evening  rendered  objects  indis- 
tinct and  uncertain  to  the  eye.  Then  they  resumed  their 
route,  and,  favored  by  the  darkness,  pushed  silently  and  vig- 
orously toward  the  western  shore.  Although  the  rugged 
outline  of  mountain,  to  which  they  were  steering,  presented 
no  distinctive  marks  to  the  eyes  of  Duncan,  the  Mohican 
entered  the  little  haven  he  had  selected  with  the  confidence 
and  accuracy  of  an  experienced  pilot. 

The  boat  was  again  lifted  and  borne  into  the  woods, 
where  it  was  carefully  concealed  under  a  pile  of  brush. 
The  adventurers  assumed  their  arms  and  packs,  and  the 
scout  announced  to  Munro  and  Heyward  that  he  and  the 
Indians  were  at  last  in  readiness  to  proceed. 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  269 


CHAPTER   XXI. 

If  you  find  a  man  there,  he  shall  die  a  flea's  death. 

Merry  Wives  of  Windsor. 

The  party  had  landed  on  the  border  of  a  region  that  is, 
even  to  this  day,  less  known  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  states, 
than  the  deserts  of  Arabia,  or  the  steppes  of  Tartary.  It 
was  the  sterile  and  rugged  district  which  separates  the  trib- 
utaries of  Champlain  from  those  of  the  Hudson,  the  Mo- 
hawk, and  the  St.  Lawrence.  Since  the  period  of  our  tale, 
the  active  spirit  of  the  country  has  surrounded  it  with  a  belt 
of  rich  and  thriving  settlements,  though  none  but  the  hunter 
or  the  savage  is  ever  known,  even  now,  to  penetrate  its  wild 
recesses. 

As  Hawk-eye  and  the  Mohicans  had,  however,  often  tra- 
versed the  mountains  and  valleys  of  this  vast  wilderness, 
they  did  not  hesitate  to  plunge  into  its  depths,  with  the  free- 
dom of  men  accustomed  to  its  privations  and  difficulties. 
For  many  hours  the  travellers  toiled  on  their  laborious  way, 
guided  by  a  star,  or  following  the  direction  of  some  water- 
course, until  the  scout  called  a  halt,  and  holding  a  short 
consultation  with  the  Indians,  they  lighted  their  fire,  and 
made  the  usual  preparations  to  pass  the  remainder  of  the 
night  where  they  then  were. 

Imitating  the  example,  and  emulating  the  confidence,  of 
their  more  experienced  associates,  Munro  and  Duncan  slept 
without  fear,  if  not  without  uneasiness.  The  dews  were 
suffered  to  exhale,  and  the  sun  had  dispersed  the  mists,  and 
was  shedding  a  strong  and  clear  light  in  the  forest,  when 
the  travellers  resumed  their  journey. 

After  proceeding  a  few  miles,  the  progress  of  Hawkeye, 
who  led  the  advance,  became  more  deliberate  and  watchful. 
He  often  stopped  to  examine  the  trees;  nor  did  he  cross  a 
rivulet,  without  attentively  considering  the  quantity,  the  ve- 


27O         THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

locity,  and  the  color  of  its  waters.  Distrusting  his  own  judg- 
ment, his  appeals  to  the  opinion  of  Chingachgook  were 
frequent  and  earnest.  During  one  of  these  conferences, 
Heyward  observed  that  Uncas  stood  a  patient  and  silent, 
though,  as  he  imagined,  an  interested  listener.  He  was 
strongly  tempted  to  address  the  young  chief,  and  demand 
his  opinion  of  their  progress;  but  the  calm  and  dignified 
demeanor  of  the  native  induced  him  to  believe  that,  like 
himself,  the  other  was  wholly  dependent  on  the  sagacity  and 
intelligence  of  the  seniors  of  the  party.  At  last,  the  scout 
spoke  in  English,  and  at  once  explained  the  embarrassment 
of  their  situation. 

"  When  I  found  that  the  home  path  of  the  Hurons  run 
north,"  he  said,  "  it  did  not  need  the  judgment  of  many 
long  years  to  tell  that  they  would  follow  the  valleys,  and 
keep  atween  the  waters  of  the  Hudson  and  the  Horican,  un- 
til they  might  strike  the  springs  of  the  Canada  streams,  which 
would  lead  them  into  the  heart  of  the  country  of  the  Frenchers. 
Yet  here  are  we,  within  a  short  range  of  the  Scaroon,  and 
not  a  sign  of  a  trail  have  we  crossed!  Human  natur'  is 
weak,  and  it  is  possible  we  may  not  have  taken  the  proper 
scent." 

"Heaven  protect  us  from  such  an  error!"  exclaimed 
Duncan.  "  Let  us  retrace  our  steps,  and  examine  as  we  go, 
with  keener  eyes.  Has  Uncas  no  counsel  to  offer  in  such  a 
strait?" 

The  young  Mohican  cast  a  glance  at  his  father,  but  main- 
taining his  quiet  and  reserved  mien,  he  continued  silent. 
Chingachgook  had  caught  the  look,  and  motioning  with  his 
hand,  he  bade  him  speak.  The  moment  this  permission 
was  accorded,  the  countenance  of  Uncas  changed  from 
its  grave  composure  to  a  gleam  of  intelligence  and  joy. 
Bounding  forward  like  a  deer,  he  sprang  up  the  side  of  a 
little  acclivity,  a  few  rods  in  advance,  and  stood,  exultingly, 
over  a  spot  of  fresh  earth,  that  looked  as  though  it  had  been 
recently  upturned  by  the  passage  of  some  heavy  animal. 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS,  27 1 

The  eyes  of  the  whole  party  followed  the  unexpected  move- 
ment, and  read  their  success  in  the  air  of  triumph  that  the 
youth  assumed. 

"'Tis  the  trail!"  exclaimed  the  scout,  advancing  to  the 
spot:  "the  lad  is  quick  of  sight  and  keen  of  wit  for  his 
years." 

"  'Tis  extraordinary  that  he  should  have  withheld  his 
knowledge  so  long,"  muttered  Duncan,  at  his  elbow. 

"  It  would  have  been  more  wonderful  had  he  spoken  with- 
out a  bidding.  No,  no;  your  young  white,  who  gathers  his 
learning  from  books  and  can  measure  what  he  knows  by  the 
page,  may  conceit  that  his  knowledge,  like  his  legs,  outruns 
that  of  his  father;  but  where  experience  is  the  master,  the 
scholar  is  made  to  know  the  value  of  years,  and  respects 
them  accordingly." 

"  See !  "  said  Uncas,  pointing  north  and  south,  at  the  evi- 
dent marks  of  the  broad  trail  on  either  side  of  him :  "  the 
aark-hair  has  gone  toward  the  frost." 

"  Hound  never  ran  on  a  more  beautiful  scent,"  responded 
the  scout,  dashing  forward,  at  once,  on  the  indicated  route ; 
"  we  are  favored,  great 'y  favored,  and  can  follow  with  high 
noses.  Ay,  here  are  both  your  waddling  beasts:  this  Hu- 
ion  travels  like  a  white  general.  The  fellow  is  stricken 
with  a  judgment,  and  is  mad!  Look  sharp  for  wheels, 
Sagamore,"  he  continued,  looking  back,  and  laughing  in 
his  newly  awakened  satisfaction ;  "  we  shall  soon  have  the 
fool  journeying  in  a  coach,  and  that  with  three  of  the  best 
pair  of  eyes  on  the  borders,  in  his  rear." 

The  spirits  of  the  scout,  and  the  astonishing  success  of 
the  chase,  in  which  a  circuitous  distance  of  more  than  forty 
miles  had  been  passed,  did  not  fail  to  impart  a  portion  of 
hope  to  the  whole  party.  Their  advance  was  rapid;  and 
made  with  as  much  confidence  as  a  traveller  would  proceed 
along  a  wide  highway.  If  a  rock,  or  a  rivulet,  or  a  bit  of 
earth  harder  than  common,  severed  the  links  of  the  clue 
they  followed,  the  true  eye  of  the  scout  recovered  them  at  a 


272  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

distance,  and  seldom  rendered  the  delay  of  a  single  moment 
necessary.  Their  progress  was  much  facilitated  by  the  cer- 
tainty that  Magua  had  found  it  necessary  to  journey  through 
the  valleys;  a  circumstance  which  rendered  the  general  di- 
rection of  the  route  sure.  Nor  had  the  Huron  entirely  neg- 
lected the  arts  uniformly  practised  by  the  natives  when 
retiring  in  front  of  an  enemy.  False  trails,  and  sudden 
turnings,  were  frequent,  wherever  a  brook,  or  the  formation 
of  the  ground,  rendered  them  feasible;  but  his  pursuers  were 
rarely  deceived,  and  never  failed  to  detect  their  error,  before 
they  had  lost  either  time  or  distance  on  the  deceptive  track. 

By  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  they  had  passed  the  Sca- 
roon,  and  were  following  the  route  of  the  declining  sun. 
After  descending  an  eminence  to  a  low  bottom,  through 
which  a  swift  stream  glided,  they  suddenly  came  to  a  place 
where  the  party  of  Le  Renard  had  made  a  halt.  Extin- 
guished brands  were  lying  around  a  spring,  the  offals  of  a 
deer  were  scattered  about  the  place,  and  the  trees  bore  evi- 
dent marks  of  having  been  browsed  by  the  horses.  At  a 
little  distance,  Heyward  discovered,  and  contemplated  with 
tender  emotion,  the  small  bower  under  which  he  was  fain  to 
believe  that  Cora  and  Alice  had  reposed.  But  while  the 
earth  was  trodden,  and  the  footsteps  of  both  men  and  beasts 
were  so  plainly  visible  around  the  place,  the  trail  appeared 
to  have  suddenly  ended. 

It  was  easy  to  follow  the  tracks  of  the  Narragansetts,  but 
they  seemed  only  to  have  wandered  without  guides,  or  any 
other  object  than  the  pursuit  of  food.  At  length  Uncas, 
who,  with  his  father,  had  endeavored  to  trace  the  route  of 
the  horses,  came  upon  a  sign  of  their  presence  that  was 
quite  recent.  Before  following  the  clew,  he  communicated 
his  success  to  his  companions;  and  while  the  latter  were 
consulting  on  the  circumstance,  the  youth  reappeared,  lead- 
ing the  two  fillies,  with  their  saddles  broken,  and  the  hous- 
ings soiled,  as  though  they  had  been  permitted  to  run  at 
will  for  several  days. 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  273 

"What  should  this  prove?"  said  Duncan,  turning  pale, 
and  glancing  his  eyes  around  him,  as  if  he  feared  the  brush 
and  leaves  were  about  to  give  up  some  horrid  secret. 

"  That  our  march  is  come  to  a  quick  end,  and  that  we  are 
in  an  enemy's  country,"  returned  the  scout.  "  Had  the  knave 
been  pressed,  and  the  gentle  ones  wanted  horses  to  keep  up 
with  the  party,  he  might  have  taken  their  scalps;  but  with- 
out an  enemy  at  his  heels,  and  with  such  rugged  beasts  as 
these  he  would  not  hurt  a  hair  of  their  heads.  I  know  your 
thoughts,  and  shame  be  it  to  our  color,  that  you  have  reason 
for  them ;  but  he  who  thinks  that  even  a  Mingo  would  ill- 
treat  a  woman,  unless  it  be  to  tomahawk  her,  knows  nothing 
of  Indian  natur',  or  the  laws  of  the  woods.  No,  no ;  I  have 
heard  that  the  French  Indians  had  come  into  these  hills,  to 
hunt  the  moose,  and  we  are  getting  within  scent  of  their 
camp.  Why  should  they  not?  the  morning  and  evening 
guns  of  Ty  may  be  heard  any  day  among  these  mountains; 
for  the  Frenchers  are  running  a  new  line  atween  the  prov- 
inces of  the  King  and  the  Canadas.  It  is  true  that  the 
horses  are  here,  but  the  Hurons  are  gone ;  let  us  then  hunt 
for  the  path  by  which  they  departed." 

Hawk-eye  and  the  Mohicans  now  applied  themselves  to 
their  task  in  good  earnest.  A  circle  of  a  few  hundred  feet 
in  circumference  was  drawn,  and  each  of  the  party  took  a 
segment  for  his  portion.  The  examination,  however,  re- 
sulted in  no  discovery.  The  impressions  of  footsteps  were 
numerous,  but  they  all  appeared  like  those  of  men  who  had 
wandered  about  the  spot,  without  any  design  to  quit  it. 
Again  the  scout  and  his  companions  made  the  circuit  of  the 
halting-place,  each  slowly  following  the  other,  until  they 
assembled  in  the  centre  once  more,  no  wiser  than  when 
they  started. 

"  Such  cunning  is  not  without  its  deviltry,"  exclaimed 
Hawk-eye,  when  he  met  the  disappointed  looks  of  his  as- 
sistants. 

"We  must  get  down  to  it,  Sagamore,  beginning  at  the 
18 


2/4  THE   LAST   OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

spring,  and  going  over  the  ground  by  inches.  The  Huron 
shall  never  brag  in  his  tribe  that  he  has  a  foot  which  leaves 
no  print." 

Setting  the  example  himself,  the  scout  engaged  in  the 
scrutiny  with  renewed  zeal.  Not  a  leaf  was  left  unturned. 
The  sticks  were  removed,  and  the  stones  lifted — for  Indian 
cunning  was  known  frequently  to  adopt  these  objects  as 
covers,  laboring  with  the  utmost  patience  and  industry,  to 
conceal  each  footstep  as  they  proceeded.  Still  no  discov- 
ery was  made.  At  length  Uncas,  whose  activity  had  enabled 
him  to  achieve  his  portion  of  the  task  the  soonest,  raked  the 
earth  across  the  turbid  little  rill  which  ran  from  the  spring, 
and  diverted  its  course  into  another  channel.  So  soon  as 
its  narrow  bed  below  the  dam  was  dry,  he  stooped  over  it 
with  keen  and  curious  eyes.  A  cry  of  exultation  immedi- 
ately announced  the  success  of  the  young  warrior.  The 
whole  party  crowded  to  the  spot,  where  Uncas  pointed  out 
the  impression  of  a  moccasin  in  the  moist  alluvion. 

"The  lad  will  be  an  honor  to  his  people,"  said  Hawk-eye, 
regarding  the  trail  with  as  much  admiration  as  a  naturalist 
would  expend  on  the  tusk  of  a  mammoth  or  the  rib  of  a 
mastodon;  "ay,  and  a  thorn  in  the  sides  of  the  Hurons. 
Yet  that  is  not  the  footstep  of  an  Indian !  the  weight  is  too 
much  on  the  heel,  and  the  toes  are  squared,  as  though  one 
of  the  French  dancers  had  been  in,  pigeon-winging  his 
tribe!  Run  back,  Uncas,  and  bring  me  the  size  of  the 
singer's  foot.  You  will  find  a  beautiful  print  of  it  just  op- 
posit  yon  rock,  ag'in  the  hill  side." 

While  the  youth  was  engaged  in  this  commission,  the 
scout  and  Chingachgook  were  attentively  considering  the 
impressions.  The  measurements  agreed,  and  the  former 
unhesitatingly  pronounced  that  the  footstep  was  that  of 
David,  who  had,  once  more,  been  made  to  exchange  his 
shoes  for  moccasins. 

"  I  can  now  read  the  whole  of  it,  as  plainly  as  if  I  had 
seen  the  arts  of  Le  Subtil,"  he  added;  "the  singer  being  a 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  2? 5 

man  whose  gifts  lay  chiefly  in  his  throat  and  feet,  was  made 
to  go  first,  and  the  others  have  trod  in  his  steps,  imitating 
their  formation." 

"  But,"  cried  Duncan,  "  I  see  no  signs  of — " 

"The  gentle  ones,"  interrupted  the  scout;  "  the  varlet  has 
found  a  way  to  carry  them,  until  he  supposed  he  had  thrown 
any  followers  off  the  scent.  My  life  on  it,  we  see  their 
pretty  little  feet  again,  before  many  rods  go  by." 

The  whole  party  now  proceeded,  following  the  course  of 
the  rill,  keeping  anxious  eyes  on  the  regular  impressions. 
The  water  soon  flowed  into  its  bed  again,  but  watching  the 
ground  on  either  side,  the  foresters  pursued  their  way,  con- 
tent with  knowing  that  the  trail  lay  beneath.  More  than 
half  a  mile  was  passed,  before  the  rill  rippled  close  around 
the  base  of  an  extensive  and  dry  rock.  Here  they  paused 
to  make  sure  that  the  Hurons  had  not  quitted  the  water. 

It  was  fortunate  they  did  so.  For  the  quick  and  active 
Uncas  soon  found  the  impression  of  a  foot  on  a  bunch  of 
moss,  where  it  would  seem  an  Indian  had  inadvertently 
trodden.  Pursuing  the  direction  given  by  this  discovery, 
he  entered  the  neighboring  thicket,  and  struck  the  trail,  as 
fresh  and  obvious  as  it  had  been  before  they  reached  the 
spring.  Another  shout  announced  the  good  fortune  of  the 
youth  to  his  companions,  and  at  once  terminated  the  search. 

"  Ay,  it  has  been  planned  with  Indian  judgment,"  said 
the  scout,  when  the  party  was  assembled  around  the  place; 
"  and  would  have  blinded  white  eyes." 

"  Shall  we  proceed?  "  demanded  Heyward. 

"  Softly,  softly :  we  know  our  path ;  but  it  is  good  to  ex- 
amine the  formation  of  things.  This  is  my  schooling,  Ma- 
jor; and  if  one  neglects  the  book,  there  is  little  chance  of 
learning  from  the  open  hand  of  Providence.  All  is  plain 
but  one  thing,  which  is  the  manner  that  the  knave  contrived 
to  get  the  gentle  ones  along  the  blind  trail.  Even  a  Huron 
would  be  too  proud  to  let  their  tender  feet  touch  the  water." 

''Will   this   assist   in   explaining    the   difficulty?"  said 


a/6         THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

Heyward,  pointing  toward  the  fragments  of  a  sort  of  hand- 
barrow,  that  had  been  rudely  constructed  of  boughs,  and 
bound  together  with  withes,  and  which  now  seemed  care- 
lessly cast  aside  as  useless. 

" 'Tis  explained!  "  cried  the  delighted  Hawk-eye.  "If 
them  varlets  have  passed  a  minute,  they  have  spent  hours 
in  striving  to  fabricate  a  lying  end  to  their  trail!  Well, 
I've  known  them  waste  a  day  in  the  same  manner,  to  as  lit- 
tle purpose.  Here  we  have  three  pair  of  moccasins,  and 
two  of  little  feet.  It  is  amazing  that  any  mortal  beings  can 
journey  on  limbs  so  small !  Pass  me  the  thong  of  buck- 
skin, Uncas,  and  let  me  take  the  length  of  this  foot.  By 
the  Lord,  it  is  no  longer  than  a  child's,  and  yet  the  maidens 
are  tall  and  comely.  That  Providence  is  partial  in  its  gifts, 
for  its  own  wise  reasons,  the  best  and  most  contented  of  us 
must  allow." 

"The  tender  limbs  of  my  daughters  are  unequal  to  these 
hardships,"  said  Munro,  looking  at  the  light  footsteps  of 
his  children,  with  a  parent's  love :  "  we  shall  find  their 
fainting  forms  in  this  desert." 

"  Of  that  there  is  little  cause  of  fear,"  returned  the  scout, 
slowly  shaking  his  head:  "this  is  a  firm  and  straight, 
though  a  light  step,  and  not  over  long.  See,  the  heel  has 
hardly  touched  the  ground;  and  there  the  dark  hair  has 
made  a  little  jump,  from  root  to  root.  No,  no;  my  knowl- 
edge for  it,  neither  of  them  was  nigh  fainting,  hereaway. 
Now,  the  singer  was  beginning  to  be  foot-sore  and  leg- 
weary,  as  is  plain  by  his  trail.  There,  you  see,  he  slipped; 
here  he  has  travelled  wide,  and  tottered;  and  there,  again, 
it  looks  as  though  he  journeyed  on  snow-shoes.  Ay,  ay,  a 
man  who  uses  his  throat  altogether,  can  hardly  give  his  legs 
a  proper  training." 

From  such  undeniable  testimony  did  the  practised  woods- 
man arrive  at  the  truth,  with  nearly  as  much  certainty  and 
precision  as  if  he  had  been  a  witness  of  all  those  events, 
which  his  ingenuity  so  easily  elucidated.     Cheered  by  these 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  277 

assurances,  and  satisfied  by  a  reasoning  that  was  so  obvious, 
while  it  was  so  simple,  the  party  resumed  its  course,  after 
making  a  short  halt,  to  take  a  hurried  repast. 

When  the  meal  was  ended,  the  scout  cast  a  glance  upward 
at  the  setting  sun,  and  pushed  forward  with  a  rapidity  which 
compelled  Hey  ward  and  the  still  vigorous  Munro  to  exert 
all  their  muscles  to  equal.  Their  route,  now,  lay  along  the 
bottom  which  has  already  been  mentioned.  As  the  Hurons 
had  made  no  further  efforts  to  conceal  their  footsteps,  the 
progress  of  the  pursuers  was  no  longer  delayed  by  uncer- 
tainty. Before  an  hour  had  elapsed,  however,  the  speed  of 
Hawk-eye  sensibly  abated,  and  his  head,  instead  of  main- 
taining its  former  direct  and  forward  look,  began  to  turn 
suspiciously  from  side  to  side,  as  if  he  were  conscious  of 
approaching  danger.  He  soon  stopped  again  and  waited 
for  the  whole  party  to  come  up. 

"  I  scent  the  Hurons,"  he  said,  speaking  to  the  Mohicans; 
"  yonder  is  open  sky,  through  the  tree-tops,  and  we  are  get- 
ting too  nigh  their  encampment.  Sagamore,  you  will  take 
the  hillside,  to  the  right;  Uncas  will  bend  along  the  brook 
to  the  left,  while  I  will  try  the  trail.  If  anything  should  hap- 
pen, the  call  will  be  three  croaks  of  a  crow.  I  saw  one  of 
the  birds  fanning  himself  in  the  air,  just  beyond  the  dead 
oak — another  sign  that  we  are  touching  an  encampment." 

The  Indians  departed  their  several  ways  without  reply, 
while  Hawk-eye  cautiously  proceeded  with  the  two  gentle- 
men. Heyward  soon  pressed  to  the  side  of  their  guide, 
eager  to  catch  an  early  glimpse  of  those  enemies  he  had 
pursued  with  so  much  toil  and  anxiety.  His  companion 
told  him  to  steal  to  the  edge  of  the  wood,  which,  as  usual, 
was  fringed  with  a  thicket,  and  wait  his  coming,  for  he 
wished  to  examine  certain  suspicious  signs  a  little  on  one 
side.  Duncan  obeyed,  and  soon  found  himself  in  a  situa- 
tion to  command  a  view  which  he  found  as  extraordinary  as 
it  was  novel. 

The  trees  of  many  acres  had  been  felled,  and  the  glow  of 


2?8  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

a  mild  summer's  evening  had  fallen  on  the  clearing,  in 
beautiful  contrast  to  the  gray  light  of  the  forest.  A  short 
distance  from  the  place  where  Duncan  stood,  the  stream 
had  seemingly  expanded  into  a  little  lake,  covering  most  of 
the  low  land,  from  mountain  to  mountain.  The  water  fell 
out  of  this  wide  basin,  in  a  cataract  so  regular  and  gentle, 
that  it  appeared  rather  to  be  the  work  of  human  hands,  than 
fashioned  by  nature.  A  hundred  earthen  dwellings  stood 
on  the  margin  of  the  lake,  and  even  in  its  water,  as  though 
the  latter  had  overflowed  its  usual  banks.  Their  rounded 
roofs,  admirably  moulded  for  defence  against  the  weather, 
denoted  more  of  industry  and  foresight  than  the  natives 
were  wont  to  bestow  on  their  regular  habitations,  much  less 
on  those  they  occupied  for  the  temporary  purposes  of  hunt- 
ing and  war.  In  short,  the  whole  village  or  town,  which- 
ever it  might  be  termed,  possessed  more  of  method  and  neat- 
ness of  execution,  than  the  white  men  had  been  accustomed 
to  believe  belonged,  ordinarily,  to  the  Indian  habits.  It 
appeared,  however,  to  be  deserted.  At  least,  so  thought 
Duncan  for  many  minutes;  but,  at  length,  he  fancied  he 
discovered  several  human  forms  advancing  toward  him  on 
all  fours,  and  apparently  dragging  in  their  train  some  heavy, 
and  as  he  was  quick  to  apprehend,  some  formidable  engine. 
Just  then  a  few  dark-looking  heads  gleamed  out  of  the 
dwellings,  and  the  place  seemed  suddenly  alive  with  beings, 
which,  however,  glided  from  cover  to  cover  so  swiftly,  as  to 
allow  no  opportunity  of  examining  their  humors  or  pursuits. 
Alarmed  at  these  suspicious  and  inexplicable  movements, 
he  was  about  to  attempt  the  signal  of  the  crows,  when  the 
rustling  of  leaves  at  hand  drew  his  eyes  in  another  direction. 
The  young  man  started,  and  recoiled  a  few  paces  instinc- 
tively, when  he  found  himself  within  a  hundred  yards  of  a 
stranger  Indian.  Recovering  his  recollection  on  the  in- 
stant, instead  of  sounding  an  alarm,  which  might  prove  fatal 
to  himself,  he  remained  stationary,  an  attentive  observer  of 
the  other's  motions. 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  2/9 

An  instant  of  calm  observation  served  to  assure  Duncan 
that  he  was  undiscovered.  The  native,  like  himself,  seemed 
occupied  in  considering  the  low  dwellings  of  the  village, 
and  the  stolen  movements  of  its  inhabitants.  It  was  impos- 
sible to  discover  the  expression  of  his  features,  through  the 
grotesque  mask  of  paint  under  which  they  were  concealed ; 
though  Duncan  fancied  it  was  rather  melancholy  than  sav- 
age. His  head  was  shaved,  as  usual,  with  the  exception  of 
the  crown,  from  whose  tuft  three  or  four  faded  feathers  from 
a  Hawk's  wing  were  loosely  dangling.  A  ragged  calico 
mantle  half  encircled  his  body,  while  his  nether  garment 
was  composed  of  an  ordinary  shirt,  the  sleeves  of  which 
were  made  to  perform  the  office  that  is  usually  executed  by 
a  much  more  commodious  arrangement.  His  legs  were 
bare,  and  sadly  cut  and  torn  by  briers.  The  feet  were,  how- 
ever, covered  with  a  pair  of  good  deer-skin  moccasins.  Al- 
together, the  appearance  of  the  individual  was  forlorn  and 
miserable. 

Duncan  was  still  curiously  observing  the  person  of  his 
neighbor,  when  the  scout  stole  silently  and  cautiously  to 
his  side. 

"  You  see  we  have  reached  their  settlement  or  encamp- 
ment," whispered  the  young  man ;  "  and  here  is  one  of  the 
savages  himself,  in  a  very  embarrassing  position  for  our 
further  movements." 

Hawk-eye  started,  and  dropped  his  rifle,  when,  directed 
by  the  finger  of  his  companion,  the  stranger  came  under  his 
view.  Then  lowering  the  dangerous  muzzle,  he  stretched 
forward  his  long  neck,  as  if  to  assist  a  scrutiny  that  was 
already  intensely  keen. 

"The  imp  is  not  a  Huron,"  he  said,  "nor  of  any  of  the 
Canada  tribes ;  and  yet  you  see,  by  his  clothes,  the  knave 
has  been  plundering  a  white.  Ay,  Montcalm  has  raked  the 
woods  for  his  inroad,  and  a  whooping,  murdering  set  of  var- 
lets  has  he  gathered  together.  Can  you  see  where  he  has 
put  his  rifle  or  his  bow  ?  " 


280         THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

"He  appears  to  have  no  arms;  nor  does  he  seem  to  be 
viciously  inclined.  Unless  he  communicate  the  alarm  to 
his  fellows,  who,  as  you  see,  are  dodging  about  the  water, 
we  have  but  little  to  fear  from  him." 

The  scout  turned  to  Heyward,  and  regarded  him  a  mo- 
ment with  unconcealed  amazement.  Then  opening  wide 
his  mouth,  he  indulged  in  unrestrained  and  heartfelt  laugh- 
ter, though  in  that  silent  and  peculiar  manner  which  danger 
had  so  long  taught  him  to  practise. 

Repeating  the  words,  "  fellows  who  are  dodging  about 
the  water!"  he  added,  "  so  much  for  schooling  and  passing 
a  boyhood  in  the  settlements!  The  knave  has  long  legs, 
though,  and  shall  not  be  trusted.  Do  you  keep  him  under 
your  rifle  while  I  creep  in  behind,  through  the  bush,  and 
take  him  alive.     Fire  on  no  account." 

Heyward  had  already  permitted  his  companion  to  bury 
part  of  his  person  in  the  thicket,  when,  stretching  forth  an 
arm,  he  arrested  him,  in  order  to  ask — 

"  If  I  see  you  in  danger,  may  I  not  risk  a  shot?  " 

Hawk-eye  regarded  him  a  moment,  like  one  who  knew 
not  how  to  take  the  question;  then  nodding  his  head,  he 
answered,  still  laughing,  though  inaudibly — 

"  Fire  a  whole  platoon,  Major." 

In  the  next  moment  he  was  concealed  by  the  leaves. 
Duncan  waited  several  minutes  in  feverish  impatience,  be- 
fore he  caught  another  glimpse  of  the  scout.  Then  he  re- 
appeared, creeping  along  the  earth,  from  which  his  dress 
was  hardly  distinguishable,  directly  in  the  rear  of  his  in- 
tended captive.  Having  reached  within  a  few  yards  of  the 
latter,  he  arose  to  his  feet,  silently  and  slowly.  At  that  in- 
stant, several  loud  blows  were  struck  on  the  water,  and  Dun- 
can turned  his  eyes  just  in  time  to  perceive  that  a  hundred 
dark  forms  were  plunging,  in  a  body,  into  the  troubled  little 
sheet.  Grasping  his  rifle,  his  looks  were  again  bent  on  the 
Indian  near  him.  Instead  of  taking  the  alarm,  the  uncon- 
scious savage  stretched  forward  his  neck,  as  if  he  also  watched 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  28 1 

the  movements  about  the  gloomy  lake,  with  a  sort  of  silly 
curiosity.  In  the  meantime,  the  uplifted  hand  of  Hawk-eye 
was  above  him.  But,  without  any  apparent  reason,  it  was 
withdrawn,  and  its  owner  indulged  in  another  long,  though 
still  silent,  fit  of  merriment.  When  the  peculiar  and  hearty 
laughter  of  Hawk-eye  was  ended,  instead  of  grasping  his 
victim  by  the  throat,  he  tapped  him  lightly  on  the  shoulder, 
and  exclaimed  aloud — 

"  How  now,  friend !  have  you  a  mind  to  teach  the 
beavers  to  sing  ?  " 

"  Even  so,"  was  the  ready  answer.  "  It  would  seem  that 
the  Being  that  gave  them  power  to  improve  his  gifts  so  well, 
would  not  deny  them  voices  to  proclaim  his  praise." 


CHAPTER   XXII. 


Bot.  Are  we  all  met  ? 
Qui.  Pat — pat ;  and  here's  a  marvellous 
Convenient  place  for  our  rehearsal. 

Shakspbare. 

The  reader  may  better  imagine,  than  we  describe,  the  sur- 
prise of  Heyward.  His  lurking  Indians  were  suddenly 
converted  into  four-footed  beasts;  his  lake  into  a  beaver 
pond;  his  cataract  into  a  dam,  constructed  by  those  indus- 
trious and  ingenious  quadrupeds;  and  a  suspected  enemy 
into  his  tried  friend,  David  Gamut,  the  master  of  psalmody. 
The  presence  of  the  latter  created  so  many  unexpected 
hopes  relative  to  the  sisters  that,  without  a  moment's  hesi- 
tation, the  young  man  broke  out  of  his  ambush,  and  sprang 
forward  to  join  the  two  principal  actors  in  the  scene. 

The  merriment  of  Hawk-eye  was  not  easily  appeased. 
Without  ceremony,  and  with  a  rough  hand,  he  twirled  the 
supple  Gamut  around  on  his  heel,  and  more  than  once  af- 
firmed that  the  Hurons  had  done  themselves  great  credit 
in  the  fashion  of  his  costume.     Then  seizing  the  hand  of 


282  THE    LAST    OF   THE    MOHICANS. 

the  other,  he  squeezed  it  with  a  gripe  that  brought  the  tears 
into  the  eyes  of  the  placid  David,  and  wished  him  joy  of  his 
new  condition. 

"  You  were  about  opening  your  throat-practysings  among 
the  beavers,  were  ye?"  he  said.  "The  cunning  devils 
know  half  the  trade  already,  for  they  beat  the  time  with 
their  tails,  as  you  heard  just  now;  and  in  good  time  it  was 
too,  or  '  Kill-deer '  might  have  sounded  the  first  note  among 
them.  I  have  known  greater  fools,  who  could  read  and 
write,  than  an  experienced  old  beaver;  but  as  for  squalling, 
the  animals  are  born  dumb! — What  think  you  of  such  a 
song  as  this?  " 

David  shut  his  sensitive  ears,  and  even  Heyward,  ap- 
prised as  he  was  of  the  nature  of  the  cry,  looked  upward 
in  quest  of  the  bird,  as  the  cawing  of  a  crow  rang  in  the 
air  about  them. 

"  See,"  continued  the  laughing  scout,  as  he  pointed  tow- 
ard the  remainder  of  the  party,  who,  in  obedience  to  the 
signal,  were  already  approaching,  "this  is  music,  which 
has  its  natural  virtues;  it  brings  two  good  rifles  to  my  el- 
bow, to  say  nothing  of  the  knives  and  tomahawks.  But  Ave 
see  that  you  are  safe;  now  tell  us  what  has  become  of  the 
maidens." 

"They  are  captives  to  the  heathen,"  said  David;  "and 
though  greatly  troubled  in  spirit,  enjoying  comfort  and 
safety  in  the  body." 

"Both?  "  demanded  the  breathless. Hey  ward. 

"  Even  so.  Though  our  wayfaring  has  been  sore  and  our 
sustenance  scanty,  we  have  had  little  other  cause  for  com- 
plaint, except  the  violence  done  our  feelings,  by  being  thus 
led  in  captivity  into  a  far  land." 

"Bless  ye  for  these  very  words!"  exclaimed  the  trem- 
bling Munro;  "  I  shall  then  receive  my  babes,  spotless  and 
angel-like,  as  I  lost  them!  " 

"I  know  not  that  their  delivery  is  at  hand,"  returned  the 
doubting  David;  "the  leader  of  these  savages  is  possessed 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  283 

of  an  evil  spirit  that  no  power  short  of  Omnipotence  can 
tame.  I  have  tried  him  sleeping  and  waking,  but  neither 
sounds  nor  language  seem  to  touch  his  soul." 

"Where  is  the  knave?  "  bluntly  interrupted  the  scout. 

"He  hunts  the  moose  to-day,  with  his  young  men;  and 
to-morrow,  as  I  hear,  they  pass  further  into  these  forests, 
and  nigher  to  the  borders  of  Canada.  The  elder  maiden  is 
conveyed  to  a  neighboring  people,  whose  lodges  are  situate 
beyond  yonder  black  pinnacle  of  rock;  while  the  younger 
is  detained  among  the  women  of  the  Hurons,  whose  dwell- 
ings are  but  two  short  miles  hence,  on  a  table  land,  where 
the  fire  has  done  the  office  of  the  axe,  and  prepared  the 
place  for  their  reception." 

"Alice,  my  gentle  Alice!"  murmured  Hey  ward;  "she 
has  lost  the  consolation  of  her  sister's  presence!  " 

"Even  so.  But  so  far  as  praise  and  thanksgiving  in 
psalmody  can  temper  the  spirit  in  affliction,  she  has  not 
suffered." 

"  Has  she  then  a  heart  for  music  ?  " 

"  Of  the  graver  and  more  solemn  character ;  though  it 
must  be  acknowledged  that,  in  spite  of  all  my  endeavors,  the 
maiden  weeps  oftener  than  she  smiles.  At  such  moments 
I  forbear  to  press  the  holy  songs ;  but  there  are  many  sweet 
and  comfortable  periods  of  satisfactory  communication, 
when  the  ears  of  the  savages  are  astounded  with  the  uplift- 
ings  of  our  voices." 

"And  why  are  you  permitted  to  go  at  large,  unwatched?  " 

David  composed  his  features  into  what  he  intended  should 
express  an  air  of  modest  humility,  before  he  meekly  re- 
plied— 

"  Little  be  the  praise  to  such  a  worm  as  I.  But,  though 
the  power  of  psalmody  was  suspended  in  the  terrible  busi- 
ness of  that  field  of  blood  through  which  we  passed,  it  has 
recovered  its  influence  even  over  the  souls  of  the  heathen, 
and  I  am  suffered  to  go  and  come  at  will." 

The  scout  laughed,  and  tapping  his  own  forehead  signifi- 


284  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

cantly,  he  perhaps  explained  the  singular  indulgence  more 
satisfactorily  when  he  said — 

"  The  Indians  never  harm  a  non-composser.  But  why, 
when  the  path  lay  open  before  your  eyes,  did  you  not  strike 
back  on  your  own  trail  (it  is  not  so  blind  as  that  which  a 
squirrel  would  make),  and  bring  in  the  tidings  to  Edward?  " 

The  scout,  remembering  only  his  own  sturdy  and  iron 
nature,  had  probably  exacted  a  task  that  David,  under  no 
circumstances,  could  have  performed.  But,  without  entirely 
losing  the  meekness  of  his  air,  the  latter  was  content  to 
answer — 

"  Though  my  soul  would  rejoice  to  visit  the  habitations 
of  Christendom  once  more,  my  feet  would  rather  follow  the 
tender  spirits  intrusted  to  my  keeping,  even  into  the  idola- 
trous province  of  the  Jesuits,  than  take  one  step  backward, 
while  they  pined  in  captivity  and  sorrow." 

Though  the  figurative  language  of  David  was  not  very 
intelligible,  the  sincere  and  steady  expression  of  his  eye, 
and  the  glow  on  his  honest  countenance,  were  not  easily 
mistaken.  Uncas  pressed  closer  to  his  side,  and  regarded 
the  speaker  with  a  look  of  commendation,  while  his  father 
expressed  his  satisfaction  by  the  ordinary  pithy  exclama- 
tion of  approbation.  The  scout  shook  his  head  as  he 
rejoined — 

"  The  Lord  never  intended  that  the  man  should  place  all 
his  endeavors  in  his  throat,  to  the  neglect  of  other  and  better 
gifts.  But  he  has  fallen  into  the  hands  of  some  silly  wom- 
an, when  he  should  have  been  gathering  his  education  under 
a  blue  sky,  among  the  beauties  of  the  forest.  Here,  friend ; 
I  did  intend  to  kindle  a  fire  with  this  tooting  whistle  of 
thine;  but  as  you  value  the  thing,  take  it,  and  blow  your 
best  on  it!  " 

Gamut  received  his  pitch-pipe  with  as  strong  an  expres- 
sion of  pleasure  as  he  believed  compatible  with  the  grave 
functions  he  exercised.  After  essaying  its  virtues  repeat- 
edly, in  contrast  with  his  own  voice,  and  satisfying  himself 


THE   LAST   OF   THE   MOHICANS.  285 

that  none  of  its  melody  was  lost,  he  made  a  very  serious 
demonstration  toward  achieving  a  few  stanzas  of  one  of  the 
longest  effusions  in  the  little  volume  so  often  mentioned. 

Heyward,  however,  hastily  interrupted  his  pious  purpose, 
by  continuing  questions  concerning  the  past  and  present 
condition  of  his  fellow-captives,  and  in  a  manner  more 
methodical  than  had  been  permitted  by  his  feelings  in  the 
opening  of  their  interview.  David,  though  he  regarded  his 
treasure  with  longing  eyes,  was  constrained  to  answer :  es- 
pecially as  the  venerable  father  took  a  part  in  the  interroga- 
tories, with  an  interest  too  imposing  to  be  denied.  Nor  did 
the  scout  fail  to  throw  in  a  pertinent  inquiry,  whenever  a 
fitting  occasion  presented.  In  this  manner,  though  with 
frequent  interruptions,  which  were  filled  with  certain  threat- 
ening sounds  from  the  recovered  instrument,  the  pursuers 
were  put  in  possession  of  such  leading  circumstances  as 
were  likely  to  prove  useful  in  accomplishing  their  great  and 
engrossing  object — the  recovery  of  the  sisters.  The  narra- 
tive of  David  was  simple,  and  the  facts  but  few. 

Magua  had  waited  on  the  mountain  until  a  safe  moment 
to  retire  presented  itself,  when  he  had  descended,  and  taken 
the  route  along  the  western  side  of  the  Horican,  in  the  di- 
rection of  the  Canadas.  As  the  subtle  Huron  was  familiar 
with  the  paths,  and  well  knew  there  was  no  immediate  dan- 
ger of  pursuit,  their  progress  had  been  moderate,  and  far 
from  fatiguing.  It  appeared,  from  the  unembellished  state- 
ment of  David,  that  his  own  presence  had  been  rather  en- 
dured than  desired;  though  even  Magua  had  not  been  en- 
tirely exempt  from  that  veneration  with  which  the  Indians 
regard  those  whom  the  Great  Spirit  has  visited  in  their 
intellects.  At  night,  the  utmost  care  had  been  taken  of  the 
captives,  both  to  prevent  injury  from  the  damps  of  the 
woods,  and  to  guard  against  an  escape.  At  the  spring,  the 
horses  were  turned  loose,  as  has  been  seen;  and  notwith- 
standing the  remoteness  and  length  of  their  trail,  the  arti- 
fices already  named  were  resorted  to,  in  order  to  cut  off 


286  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

every  clue  to  their  place  of  retreat.  On  their  arrival  at  the 
encampment  of  his  people,  Magua,  in  obedience  to  a  policy 
seldom  departed  from,  separated  his  prisoners.  Cora  had 
been  sent  to  a  tribe  that  temporarily  occupied  an  adjacent 
valley,  though  David  was  far  too  ignorant  of  the  customs 
and  history  of  the  natives,  to  be  able  to  declare  anything 
satisfactory  concerning  their  name  or  character.  He  only 
knew  that  they  had  not  engaged  in  the  late  expedition 
against  William  Henry;  that,  like  the  Hurons  themselves, 
they  were  allies  of  Montcalm ;  and  that  they  maintained  an 
amicable,  though  a  watchful  intercourse  with  the  warlike 
and  savage  people,  whom  chance  had,  for  a  time,  brought 
in  such  close  and  disagreeable  contact  with  themselves. 

The  Mohicans  and  the  scout  listened  to  his  interrupted 
and  imperfect  narrative,  with  an  interest  that  obviously  in- 
creased as  he  proceeded;  and  it  was  while  attempting  to 
explain  the  pursuits  of  the  community  in  which  Cora  was 
detained,  that  the  latter  abruptly  demanded — 

"Did  you  see  the  fashion  of  their  knives?  were  they  of 
English  or  French  formation  ?  " 

"  My  thoughts  were  bent  on  no  such  vanities,  but  rather 
mingled  in  consolation  with  those  of  the  maidens." 

"The  time  may  come  when  you  will  not  consider  the 
knife  of  a  savage  such  a  despisable  vanity,"  returned  the 
scout,  with  a  strong  expression  of  contempt  for  the  other's 
dulness.  "Had  they  held  their  corn-feast — or  can  you  say 
anything  of  the  totems  of  their  tribe?  " 

"  Of  corn,  we  had  many  and  plentiful  feasts ;  for  the  grain, 
being  in  the  milk,  is  both  sweet  to  the  mouth  and  comfort- 
able to  the  stomach.  Of  totem,  I  know  not  the  meaning; 
but  if  it  appertaineth  in  any  wise  to  the  art  of  Indian  music, 
it  need  not  be  inquired  after  at  their  hands.  They  never 
join  their  voices  in  praise,  and  it  would  seem  that  they  are 
among  the  profanest  of  the  idolatrous." 

"  Therein  you  belie  the  nature  of  an  Indian.  Even  lue 
Mingo  adores  but  the  true  and  living  God.     'Tis  a  wicked 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  2^7 

fabrication  of  the  whites,  and  I  say  it  to  the  shame  of  my 
color,  that  would  make  the  warrior  bow  down  before  images 
of  his  own  creation.  It  is  true,  they  endeavor  to  make  truces 
with  the  wicked  one — as  who  would  not  with  an  enemy  he 
cannot  conquer ! — but  they  look  up  for  favor  and  assistance 
to  the  Great  and  Good  Spirit  only." 

"It  may  be  so,"  said  David;  "but  I  have  seen  strange 
and  fantastic  images  drawn  in  their  paint,  of  which  their 
admiration  and  care  savored  of  spiritual  pride;  especially 
one,  and  that,  too,  a  foul  and  loathsome  object." 

"Was  it  a  sarpent?  "  quickly  demanded  the  scout. 

"  Much  the  same.  It  was  in  the  likeness  of  an  abject  and 
creeping  tortoise." 

"  Hugh ! "  exclaimed  both  the  attentive  Mohicans  in  a 
breath;  while  the  scout  shook  his  head  with  the  air  of  one 
who  had  made  an  important,  but  by  no  means  a  pleasing 
discovery.  Then  the  father  spoke,  in  the  language  of  the 
Delawares,  and  with  a  calmness  and  dignity  that  instantly 
arrested  the  attention  even  of  those  to  whom  his  words  were 
unintelligible.  His  gestures  were  impressive,  and  at  times 
energetic.  Once  he  lifted  his  arm  on  high;  and  as  it  de- 
scended, the  action  threw  aside  the  folds  of  his  light  mantle, 
a  finger  resting  on  his  breast,  as  if  he  would  enforce  his 
meaning  by  the  attitude.  Duncan's  eyes  followed  the 
movement,  and  he  perceived  that  the  animal  just  mentioned 
was  beautifully,  thought  faintly,  worked  in  a  blue  tint,  on 
the  swarthy  breast  of  the  chief.  All  that  he  had  ever  heard 
of  the  violent  separation  of  the  vast  tribes  of  the  Delawares 
rushed  across  his  mind,  and  he  awaited  the  proper  moment 
to  speak,  with  a  suspense  that  was  rendered  nearly  intoler- 
able, by  his  interest  in  the  stake.  His  wish,  however,  was 
anticipated  by  the  scout,  who  turned  from  his  red  friend, 
saying — 

"We  have  found  that  which  may  be  good  or  evil  to  us, 
as  Heaven  disposes.'  The  Sagamore  is  of  the  high  blood 
of  the  Delawares  and  is  the  great  chief  of  their  Tortoises! 


288  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

That  some  of  this  stock  are  among  the  people  of  whom  the 
singer  tells  us,  is  plain,  by  his  words;  and  had  he  but  spent 
half  the  breath  in  prudent  questions,  that  he  has  blown  away 
in  making  a  trumpet  of  his  throat,  we  might  have  known 
how  many  warriors  they  numbered.  It  is,  altogether,  a  dan- 
gerous path  we  move  in ;  for  a  friend  whose  face  is  turned 
from  you  often  bears  a  bloodier  mind  than  the  enemy  who 
seeks  your  scalp." 

"  Explain,"  said  Duncan. 

"  Tis  a  long  and  melancholy  tradition,  and  one  I  little 
like  to  think  of;  for  it  is  not  to  be  denied,  that  the  evil  has 
been  mainly  done  by  men  with  white  skins.  But  it  has 
ended  in  turning  the  tomahawk  of  brother  against  brother, 
and  brought  the  Mingo  and  the  Delaware  to  travel  in  the 
same  path." 

"  You  then  suspect  it  is  a  portion  of  that  people  among 
whom  Cora  resides?  " 

The  scout  nodded  his  head  in  assent,  though  he  seemed 
anxious  to  waive  the  further  discussion  of  a  subject  that 
appeared  painful.  The  impatient  Duncan  now  made  sev- 
eral hasty  and  desperate  propositions  to  attempt  the  release 
of  the  sisters.  Munro  seemed  to  shake  off  his  apathy,  and 
listened  to  the  wild  schemes  of  the  young  man  with  a  defer- 
ence that  his  gray  hairs  and  reverend  years  should  have  de- 
nied. But  the  scout,  after  suffering  the  ardor  of  the  lover 
to  expend  itself  a  little,  found  means  to  convince  him  of  the 
folly  of  precipitation,  in  a  matter  than  would  require  their 
coolest  judgment  and  utmost  fortitude. 

"  It  would  be  well,"  he  added,  "  to  let  this  man  go  in 
again,  as  usual,  and  for  him  to  tarry  in  the  lodges,  giving 
notice  to  the  gentle  ones  of  our  approach,  until  we  call  him 
out,  by  signal,  to  consult.  You  know  the  cry  of  a  crow, 
friend,  from  the  whistle  of  the  whip-poor-will?  " 

"  'Tis  a  pleasing  bird,"  returned  David,  "  and  has  a  soft 
and  melancholy  note!  though  the  time  is  rather  quick  and 
ill-measured." 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS.  289 

"  He  speaks  of  the  wish-ton-wish,"  said  the  scout:  "well, 
since  you  like  his  whistle,  it  shall  be  your  signal.  Remem- 
ber, then,  when  you  hear  the  whip-poor-will's  call  three 
times  repeated,  you  are  to  come  into  the  bushes  where  the 
bird  might  be  supposed " 

"Stop,"  interrupted  Heyward:  "I  will  accompany  him." 

"You!"  exclaimed  the  astonished  Hawk-eye;  "are  you 
tired  of  seeing  the  sun  rise  and  set?  " 

"  David  is  a  living  proof  that  the  Hurons  can  be  mer- 
ciful." 

"Ay,  but  David  can  use  his  throat,  as  no  man  in  his 
senses  would  pervart  the  gift." 

"I  too  can  play  the  madman,  the  fool,  the  hero;  in  short, 
any  or  everything  to  rescue  her  I  love.  Name  your  objec- 
tions no  longer:  I  am  resolved." 

Hawk-eye  regarded  the  young  man  a  moment  in  speech- 
less amazement.  But  Duncan,  who,  in  deference  to  the 
other's  skill  and  services,  had  hitherto  submitted  somewhat 
implicitly  to  his  dictation,  now  assumed  the  superior,  with 
a  manner  that  was  not  easily  resisted.  He  waved  his  hand, 
in  sign  of  his  dislike  to  all  remonstrance,  and  then,  in  more 
tempered  language,  he  continued — 

"  You  have  the  means  of  disguise:  change  me;  paint  me 
too,  if  you  will;  in  short,  alter  me  to  anything — a  fool." 

"  It  is  not  for  one  like  me  to  say  that  he  who  is  already 
formed  by  so  powerful  a  hand  as  Providence,  stands  in  need 
of  a  change,"  muttered  the  discontented  scout.  "  When  you 
send  your  parties  abroad  in  war,  you  find  it  prudent,  at 
least,  to  arrange  the  marks  and  places  of  encampment,  in 
order  that  they  who  fight  on  your  side  may  know  when  and 
where  to  expect  a  friend." 

"Listen,"  interrupted  Duncan;  "you  have  heard  from 
this  faithful  follower  of  the  captives,  that  the  Indians  are 
of  two  tribes,  if  not  of  different  nations.  With  one,  whom 
you  think  to  be  a  branch  of  the  Delawares,  is  she  you  call 
the  'dark  hair';  the  other,  and  younger  of  the  ladies,  is 
l9 


29O  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

undeniably  with  our  declared  enemies,  the  Hurons.  It  be- 
comes my  youth  and  rank  to  attempt  the  latter  adventure. 
While  you,  therefore,  are  negotiating  with  your  friends  for 
the  release  of  one  of  the  sisters,  I  will  effect  that-  of  the 
other,  or  die." 

The  awakened  spirit  of  the  young  soldier  gleamed  in  his 
eyes,  and  his  form  became  imposing  under  its  influence. 
Hawk-eye,  though  too  much  accustomed  to  Indian  artifices 
not  to  foresee  the  danger  of  the  experiment,  knew  not  well 
how  to  combat  this  sudden  resolution. 

Perhaps  there  was  something  in  the  proposal  that  suited 
his  own  hardy  nature,  and  that  secret  love  of  desperate  ad- 
venture, which  had  increased  with  his  experience,  until 
hazard  and  danger  had  become,  in  some  measure,  necessary 
to  the  enjoyment  of  his  existence.  Instead  of  continuing 
to  oppose  the  scheme  of  Duncan,  his  humor  suddenly  al- 
tered, and  he  lent  himself  to  to  its  execution. 

"  Come,"  he  said,  with  a  good-humored  smile;  "the  buck 
that  will  take  to  the  water  must  be  headed,  and  not  fol- 
lowed. Chingachgook  has  as  many  different  paints  as  the 
engineer  officer's  wife,  who  takes  down  natur'  on  scraps  of 
paper,  making  the  mountains  look  like  cocks  of  rusty  hay, 
and  placing  the  blue  sky  in  reach  of  your  hand.  The  Saga- 
more can  use  them  too.  Seat  yourself  on  the  log;  and  my 
life  on  it,  he  can  soon  make  a  natural  fool  of  you,  and  that 
well  to  your  liking." 

Duncan  complied;  and  the  Mohican,  who  had  been  an 
attentive  listener  to  the  discourse,  readily  undertook  the 
office.  Long  practised  in  all  the  subtle  arts  of  his  race,  he 
drew  with  great  dexterity  and  quickness,  the  fantastic  shad- 
ow that  the  natives  were  accustomed  to  consider  as  the  evi- 
dence of  a  friendly  and  jocular  disposition.  Every  line  that 
could  possibly  be  interpreted  into  a  secret  inclination  for 
war,  was  carefully  avoided;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  he 
studied  those  conceits  that  might  be  construed  into  amity. 

In  short,  he  entirely  sacrificed  every  appearance  of  the 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  20,1 

warrior  to  the  masquerade  of  a  buffoon.  Such  exhibitions 
were  not  uncommon  among  the  Indians;  and  as  Duncan 
was  already  sufficiently  disguised  in  his  dress,  there  cer- 
tainly did  exist  some  reason  for  believing  that,  with  his 
knowledge  of  French,  he  might  pass  for  a  juggler  from  Ti- 
conderoga,  straggling  among  the  allied  and  friendly  tribes. 

When  he  was  thought  to  be  sufficiently  painted,  the  scout 
gave  him  much  friendly  advice;  concerted  signals,  and  ap- 
pointed the  place  where  they  should  meet,  in  the  event  of 
mutual  success.  The  parting  between  Munro  and  his  young 
friend  was  more  melancholy;  still,  the  former  submitted  to 
the  separation  with  an  indifference  that  his  warm  and  hon- 
est nature  would  never  have  permitted  in  a  more  healthful 
state  of  mind.  The  scout  led  Heyward  aside,  and  acquainted 
him  with  his  intention  to  leave  the  veteran  in  some  safe 
encampment,  in  charge  of  Chingachgook,  while  he  and 
Uncas  pursued  their  inquiries  among  the  people  they  had 
reason  to  believe  were  Delawares.  Then  renewing  his  cau- 
tions and  advice,  he  concluded,  by  saying,  with  a  solemnity 
and  warmth  of  feeling,  with  which  Duncan  was  deeply 
touched — 

"And  now  God  bless  you!  You  have  shown  a  spirit  that 
I  like;  for  it  is  the  gift  of  youth,  more  especially  one  of 
warm  blood  and  a  stout  heart.  But  believe  the  warning  of 
a  man  who  has  reason  to  know  all  he  says  to  be  true.  You 
will  have  occasion  for  your  best  manhood,  and  for  a  sharper 
wit  than  what  is  to  be  gathered  in  books,  afore  you  outdo 
the  cunning,  or  get  the  better  of  the  courage  of  a  Mingo. 
God  bless  you !  if  the  Hurons  master  your  scalp,  rely  on  the 
promise  of  one  who  has  two  stout  warriors  to  back  him. 
They  shall  pay  for  their  victory,  with  a  life  for  every  hair 
it  holds.  I  say,  young  gentleman,  may  Providence  bless 
your  undertaking,  which  is  altogether  for  good;  and  remem- 
ber, that  to  outwit  the  knaves  it  is  lawful  to  practise  things 
that  may  not  be  naturally  the  gift  of  a  white  skin." 

Duncan  shook  his  worthy  and  reluctant  associate  warmly 


292  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

by  the  hand,  once  more  recommended  his  aged  friend  to  his 
care,  and  returning  his  good  wishes,  he  motioned  to  David 
to  proceed.  Hawk-eye  gazed  after  the  high-spirited  and 
adventurous  young  man  for  several  moments,  in  open  admi- 
ration; then  shaking  his  head  doubtingly,  he  turned,  and 
led  his  own  division  of  the  party  into  the  concealment  of 
the  forest. 

The  route  taken  by  Duncan  and  David  lav  directly  across 
the  clearing  of  the  beavers,  and  along  the  margin  of  their 
pond. 

When  the  former  found  himself  alone  with  one  so  sim- 
ple, and  so  little  qualified  to  render  any  assistance  in  des- 
perate emergencies,  he  first  began  to  be  sensible  of  the  dif- 
ficulties of  the  task  he  had  undertaken.  The  fading  light 
increased  the  gloominess  of  the  bleak  and  savage  wilder- 
ness that  stretched  so  far  on  every  side  of  him ;  and  there 
was  even  a  fearful  character  in  the  stillness  of  those  little 
huts,  that  he  knew  were  so  abundantly  peopled.  It  struck 
him,  as  he  gazed  at  the  admirable  structures  and  the  won- 
derful precautions  of  their  sagacious  inmates,  that  even  the 
brutes  of  these  vast  wilds  were  possessed  of  an  instinct 
nearly  commensurate  with  his  own  reason;  and  he  could 
not  reflect,  without  anxiety,  on  the  unequal  contest  that  he 
had  so  rashly  courted.  Then  came  the  glowing  image  of 
Alice;  her  distress;  her  actual  danger;  and  all  the  peril  of 
his  situation  was  forgotten.  Cheering  David,  he  moved  on 
with  the  light  and  vigorous  step  of  youth  and  enterprise. 

After  making  nearly  a  semicircle  around  the  pond,  they 
diverged  from  the  water-course,  and  began  to  ascend  to  the 
level  of  a  slight  elevation  in  that  bottom  land,  over  which 
they  journeyed.  Within  half  an  hour  they  gained  the  mar- 
gin of  another  opening  that  bore  all  the  signs  of  having  been 
also  made  by  the  beavers,  and  which  those  sagacious  ani- 
mals had  probably  been  induced,  by  some  accident,  to  aban- 
don, for  the  more  eligible  position  they  now  occupied.  A 
very  natural  sensation  caused  Duncan  to  hesitate  a  moment 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS.         2Q3 

unwilling  to  leave  the  cover  of  their  bushy  path,  as  a  man 
pauses  to  collect  his  energies  before  he  essays  any  hazard- 
ous experiment,  in  which  he  is  secretly  conscious  they  will 
all  be  needed.  He  profited  by  the  halt,  to  gather  such  in- 
formation as  might  be  obtained  from  his  short  and  hasty 
glances. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  clearing,  and  near  the  point 
where  the  brook  tumbled  over  some  rocks,  from  a  still 
higher  level,  some  fifty  or  sixty  lodges,  rudely  fabricated  of 
logs,  brush,  and  earth  intermingled,  were  to  be  discovered. 
They  were  arranged  without  any  order,  and  seemed  to  be 
constructed  with  very  little  attention  to  neatness  or  beauty. 
Indeed,  so  very  inferior  were  they  in  the  two  latter  particu- 
lars to  the  village  Duncan  had  just  seen,  that  he  began  to 
expect  a  second  surprise,  no  less  astonishing  than  the  for- 
mer. This  expectation  was  in  no  degree  diminished,  when, 
by  the  doubtful  twilight,  he  beheld  twenty  or  thirty  forms 
rising  alternately  from  the  cover  of  the  tall,  coarse  grass, 
in  front  of  the  lodges,  and  then  sinking  again  from  the 
sight,  as  it  were  to  burrow  in  the  earth.  By  the  sudden  and 
hasty  glimpses  that  he  caught  of  these  figures,  they  seemed 
more  like  dark  glancing  spectres,  or  some  other  unearthly 
beings,  than  creatures  fashioned  with  the  ordinary  and  vul- 
gar materials  of  flesh  and  blood.  A  gaunt,  naked  form  was 
seen,  for  a  single  instant,  tossing  its  arms  wildly  in  the  air, 
and  then  the  spot  it  had  filled  was  vacant;  the  figure  ap- 
pearing suddenly  in  some  other  and  distant  place,  or  being 
succeeded  by  another,  possessing  the  same  mysterious  char- 
acter. David,  observing  that  his  companion  lingered,  pur- 
sued the  direction  of  his  gaze,  and  in  some  measure  recalled 
the  recollection  of  Heyward,  by  speaking. 

"There  is  much  fruitful  soil  uncultivated  here,"  he  said; 
"and  I  may  add,  without  the  sinful  leaven  of  self-com- 
mendation, that  since  my  short  sojourn  in  these  heathenish 
abodes,  much  good  seed  has  been  scattered  by  the  way- 
side." 


294  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

"  The  tribes  are  fonder  of  the  chase  than  of  the  arts  of 
men  jf  labor,"  returned  the  unconscious  Duncan,  still  gaz- 
ing at  the  objects  of  his  wonder. 

"  It  is  rather  joy  than  labor  to  the  spirit,  to  lift  up  the 
voice  in  praise;  but  sadly  do  these  boys  abuse  their  gifts. 
Rarely  have  I  found  any  of  their  age,  on  whom  nature  has 
so  freely  bestowed  the  elements  of  psalmody;  and  surely, 
surely,  there  are  none  who  neglect  them  more.  Three  nights 
have  I  now  tarried  here,  and  three  several  times  have  I  as- 
sembled the  urchins  to  join  in  sacred  song;  and  as  often 
have  they  responded  to  my  efforts  with  whoopings  and 
howlings  that  have  chilled  my  soul !  " 

u  Of  whom  speak  you  ?  " 

"Of  those  children  of  the  devil,  who  waste  the  precious 
moments  in  yonder  idle  antics.  Ah !  the  wholesome  re- 
straint of  discipline  is  but  little  known  among  this  self- 
abandoned  people.  In  a  country  of  birches,  a  rod  is  never 
seen ;  and  it  ought  not  to  appear  a  marvel  in  my  eyes,  that 
the  choicest  blessings  of  Providence  are  wasted  in  such 
cries  as  these." 

David  closed  his  ears  against  the  juvenile  pack  whose 
yell  just  then  rang  shrilly  through  the  forest;  and  Duncan, 
suffering  his  lip  to  curl,  as  in  mockery  of  his  own  supersti- 
tion, said  firmly — 

"  We  will  proceed." 

Without  removing  the  safeguards  from  his  ears,  the  mas- 
ter of  song  complied,  and  together  they  pursued  their  way 
toward  what  David  was  sometimes  wont  to  call  "the  tents 
of  the  Philistines." 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  295 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

But  though  the  beast  of  game 

The  privilege  of  chase  may  claim  ; 
Though  space  and  law  the  stag  we  lend, 
Ere  hound  we  slip,  or  bow  we  bend  ; 
Who  ever  recked,  where,  how,  or  when 
The  prowling  fox  was  trapped  or  slain  ? 

Lady  of  the  Lake. 

It  is  unusual  to  find  an  encampment  of  the  natives,  like 
those  of  the  more  instructed  whites,  guarded  by  the  pres- 
ence of  armed  men.  Well  informed  of  the  approach  of 
every  danger,  while  it  is  yet  at  a  distance,  the  Indian  gen- 
erally rests  secure  under  his  knowledge  of  the  signs  of  the 
forest,  and  the  long  and  difficult  paths  that  separate  him 
from  those  he  has  most  reason  to  dread.  But  the  enemy 
who,  by  any  lucky  concurrence  of  accidents,  has  found 
means  to  elude  the  vigilance  of  the  scouts,  will  seldom 
meet  with  sentinels  nearer  home  to  sound  the  alarm.  In 
addition  to  this  general  usage,  the  tribes  friendly  to  the 
French  knew  too  well  the  weight  of  the  blow  that  had  just 
been  struck,  to  apprehend  any  immediate  danger  from  trie 
hostile  nations  that  were  tributary  to  the  crown  of  Britain. 

When  Duncan  and  David,  therefore,  found  themselves  in 
the  centre  of  the  children,  who  played  the  antics  already 
mentioned,  it  was  without  the  least  previous  intimation  of 
their  approach.  But  so  soon  as  they  were  observed,  the 
whole  of  the  juvenile  pack  raised,  by  common  consent,  a 
shrill  and  warning  whoop;  and  then  sank,  as  it  were,  by 
magic,  from  before  the  sight  of  their  visitors.  The  naked, 
tawny  bodies  of  the  crouching  urchins  blended  so  nicely,  at 
that  hour,  with  the  withered  herbage,  that  at  first  it  seemed 
as  if  the  earth  had,  in  truth,  swallowed  up  their  forms; 
though  when  surprise  permitted  Duncan  to  bend  his  look 
more  curiously  about  the  spot,  he  found  it  everywhere  met 
by  dark,  quick,  and  rolling  eye-balls. 


296  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

Gathering  no  encouragement,  from  this  startling  presage 
of  the  nature  of  the  scrutiny  he  was  likely  to  undergo  from 
the  more  mature  judgments  of  the  men,  there  was  an  instant 
when  the  young  soldier  would  have  retreated.  It  was,  how- 
ever, too  late  to  appear  to  hesitate.  The  cry  of  the  children 
had  drawn  a  dozen  warriors  to  the  door  of  the  nearest  lodge, 
where  they  stood  clustered  in  a  dark  and  savage  group, 
gravely  awaiting  the  nearer  approach  of  those  who  had  un- 
expectedly come  among  them. 

David,  in  some  measure  familiarized  to  the  scene,  led  the 
way  with  a  steadiness  that  no  slight  obstacle  was  likely  to 
disconcert,  into  this  very  building.  It  was  the  principal 
edifice  of  the  village,  though  roughly  constructed  of  the 
bark  and  branches  of  trees;  being  the  lodge  in  which  the 
tribe  held  its  councils  and  public  meetings  during  their 
temporary  residence  on  the  borders  of  the  English  province. 
Duncan  found  it  difficult  to  assume  the  necessary  appear- 
ance of  unconcern,  as  he  brushed  the  dark  and  powerful 
frames  of  the  savages  who  thronged  its  threshold ;  but,  con- 
scious that  his  existence  depended  on  his  presence  of  mind, 
he  trusted  to  the  discretion  of  his  companion,  whose  foot- 
steps he  closely  followed,  endeavoring,  as  he  proceeded,  to 
rally  his  thoughts  for  the  occasion.  His  blood  curdled  when 
he  found  himself  in  absolute  contact  with  such  fierce  and 
implacable  enemies ;  but  he  so  far  mastered  his  feelings  as  to 
pursue  his  way  into  the  centre  of  the  lodge,  with  an  exterior 
that  did  not  betray  the  weakness.  Imitating  the  example 
of  the  deliberate  Gamut,  he  drew  a  bundle  of  fragrant  brush 
from  beneath  a  pile  that  filled  a  corner  of  the  hut,  and 
seated  himself  in  silence. 

So  soon  as  their  visitor  had  passed,  the  observant  war- 
riors fell  back  from  the  entrance,  and  arranging  themselves 
about  him,  they  seemed  patiently  to  await  the  moment  when 
it  might  comport  with  the  dignity  of  the  stranger  to  speak. 
By  far  the  greater  number  stood  leaning,  in  lazy,  lounging 
attitudes,  against  the  upright  posts  that  supported  the  crazy 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  297 

building,  while  three  or  four  of  the  oldest  and  most  distin- 
guished of  the  chiefs  placed  themselves  on  the  earth  a  little 
more  in  advance. 

A  flaring  torch  was  burning  in  the  place,  and  sent  its  red 
glare  from  face  to  face  and  figure  to  figure,  as  it  waved  in 
the  currents  of  air.  Duncan  profited  by  its  light  to  read 
the  probable  character  of  his  reception,  in  the  countenances 
of  his  hosts.  But  his  ingenuity  availed  him  little,  against 
the  cold  artifices  of  the  people  he  had  encountered.  The 
chiefs  in  front  scarce  cast  a  glance  at  his  person,  keeping 
their  eyes  on  the  ground,  with  an  air  that  might  have  been 
intended  for  respect,  but  which  it  was  quite  easy  to  construe 
into  distrust.  The  men  in  shadow  were  less  reserved.  Dun- 
can soon  detected  their  searching,  but  stolen  looks,  which, 
in  truth,  scanned  his  person  and  attire  inch  by  inch;  leav- 
ing no  emotion  of  the  countenance,  no  gesture,  no  line  of 
the  paint,  nor  even  the  fashion  of  a  garment,  unheeded,  and 
without  comment. 

At  length  one  whose  hair  was  beginning  to  be  sprinkled 
with  grey,  but  whose  sinewy  limbs  and  firm  tread  announced 
that  he  was  still  equal  to  the  duties  of  manhood,  advanced 
out  of  the  gloom  of  a  corner,  whither  he  had  probably  posted 
himself  to  make  his  observations  unseen,  and  spoke.  He 
used  the  language  of  the  Wyandots,  or  Hurons;  his  words 
were,  consequently,  unintelligible  to  Heyward,  though  they 
seemed,  by  the  gestures  that  accompanied  them,  to  be  ut- 
tered more  in  courtesy  than  anger.  The  latter  shook  his 
head,  and  made  a  gesture  indicative  of  his  inability  to 
reply. 

"  Do  none  of  my  brothers  speak  the  French  or  the  Eng- 
lish? "  he  said,  in  the  former  language,  looking  about  him 
from  countenance  to  countenance,  in  hopes  of  finding  a  nod 
of  assent. 

Though  more  than  one  had  turned,  as  if  to  catch  the 
meaning  of  his  words,  they  remained  unanswered. 

"  I  should  be  grieved  to  think,"  continued  Duncan,  speak-, 


298  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

ing  slowly,  and  using  the  simplest  French  of  which  he  was 
the  master,  "to  believe  that  none  of  this  wise  and  brave 
nation  understand  the  language  that  the  '  Grand  Monarque  ' 
uses  when  he  talks  to  his  children.  His  heart  would  be 
heavy  did  he  believe  his  red  warriors  paid  him  so  little  re- 
spect !  " 

A  long  and  grave  pause  succeeded,  during  which  no 
movement  of  a  limb,  nor  any  expression  of  an  eye,  betrayed 
the  impression  produced  by  his  remark.  Duncan,  who  knew 
that  silence  was  a  virtue  amongst  his  hosts,  gladly  had  re- 
course to  the  custom,  in  order  to  arrange  his  ideas.  At 
length,  the  same  warrior  who  had  before  addressed  him, 
replied,  by  drily  demanding,  in  the  language  of  the  Can- 
adas — 

"  When  our  Great  Father  speaks  to  his  people,  is  it  with 
the  tongue  of  a  Huron?  " 

"  He  knows  no  difference  in  his  children,  whether  the 
color  of  the  skin  be  red,  or  black,  or  white,"  returned  Dun- 
can, evasively;  "though  chiefly  is  he  satisfied  with  the 
brave  Hurons." 

"  In  what  manner  will  he  speak,"  demanded  the  wary 
chief,  "  when  the  runners  count  to  him  the  scalps  which  five 
nights  ago  grew  on  the  heads  of  the  Yengeese?  " 

"They  were  his  enemies,"  said  Duncan,  shuddering  in- 
voluntarily; "and  doubtless,  he  will  say,  It  is  good — my 
Hurons  are  very  gallant." 

"  Our  Canada  father  does  not  think  it.  Instead  of  look- 
ing forward  to  reward  his  Indians,  his  eyes  are  turned  back- 
ward. He  sees  the  dead  Yengeese,  but  no  Huron.  What 
can  this  mean?  " 

"  A  great  chief,  like  him,  has  more  thoughts  than  tongues. 
He  looks  to  see  that  no  enemies  are  on  his  trail." 

"  The  canoe  of  a  dead  warrior  will  not  float  on  the  Hori- 
can,"  returned  the  savage,  gloomily.  "  His  ears  are  open 
to  the  Delawares,  who  are  not  our  friends,  and  they  fill  them 
with  lies." 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  299 

"  It  cannot  be.  See ;  he  has  bid  me,  who  am  a  man  that 
knows  the  art  of  healing,  to  go  to  his  children,  the  red  Hu- 
rons  of  the  great  lakes,  and  ask  if  any  are  sick!  " 

Another  silence  succeeded  this  annunciation  of  the  char- 
acter Duncan  had  assumed.  Every  eye  was  simultaneously 
bent  on  his  person,  as  if  to  inquire  into  the  truth  or  false- 
hood of  the  declaration,  with  an  intelligence  and  keenness 
that  caused  the  subject  of  their  scrutiny  to  tremble  for  the 
result.  He  was,  however,  relieved  again  by  the  former 
speaker. 

"  Do  the  cunning  men  of  the  Canadas  paint  their  skins?  " 
the  Huron  coldly  continued ;  "  we  have  heard  them  boast 
that  their  faces  were  pale." 

"When  an  Indian  chief  comes  among  his  white  fathers," 
returned  Duncan,  with  great  steadiness,  "  he  lays  aside  his 
buffalo  robe,  to  carry  the  shirt  that  is  offered  him.  My 
brothers  have  given  me  paint,  and  I  wear  it." 

A  low  murmur  of  applause  announced  that  the  compli- 
ment to  the  tribe  was  favorably  received.  The  elderly  chief 
made  a  gesture  of  commendation,  which  was  answered  by 
most  of  his  companions,  who  each  threw  forth  a  hand,  and 
uttered  a  brief  exclamation  of  pleasure.  Duncan  began  to 
breathe  more  freely,  believing  that  the  weight  of  his  exami- 
nation was  past ;  and  as  he  had  already  prepared  a  simple 
and  probable  tale  to  support  his  pretended  occupation,  his 
hopes  of  ultimate  success  grew  brighter. 

After  a  silence  of  a  few  moments,  as  if  adjusting  his 
thoughts,  in  order  to  make  a  suitable  answer  to  the  declara- 
tion their  guest  had  just  given,  another  warrior  arose,  and 
placed  himself  in  an  attitude  to  speak.  While  his  lips 
were  yet  in  the  act  of  parting,  a  low  but  fearful  sound  arose 
from  the  forest,  and  was  immediately  succeeded  by  a  high, 
shrill  yell,  that  was  drawn  out,  until  it  equalled  the  longest 
and  most  plaintive  howl  of  the  wolf.  The  sudden  and  ter- 
rible interruption  caused  Duncan  to  start  from  his  seat,  un- 
conscious of  everything  but  the  effect  produced  by  so  fright- 


3<X>  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

ful  a  cry.  At  the  same  moment,  the  warriors  glided  in  a 
body  from  the  lodge,  and  the  outer  air  was  filled  with  loud 
shouts,  that  nearly  drowned  those  awful  sounds,  which  were 
still  ringing  beneath  the  arches  of  the  woods.  Unable  to 
command  himself  any  longer,  the  youth  broke  from  the 
place,  and  presently  stood  in  the  centre  of  a  disorderly 
throng,  that  included  nearly  everything  having  life,  within 
the  limits  of  the  encampment.  Men,  women,  and  children; 
the  aged,  the  infirm,  the  active,  and  the  strong,  were  alike 
abroad;  some  exclaiming  aloud,  others  clapping  their  hands 
with  a  joy  that  seemed  frantic,  and  all  expressing  their  sav- 
age pleasure  in  some  unexpected  event.  Though  astounded, 
at  first,  by  the  uproar,  Heywood  was  soon  enabled  to  find 
its  solution  by  the  scene  that  followed. 

There  yet  lingered  sufficient  light  in  the  heavens  to  ex- 
hibit those  bright  openings  among  the  tree-tops,  where  dif- 
ferent paths  left  the  clearing  to  enter  the  depths  of  the  wil- 
derness. Beneath  one  of  them,  a  line  of  warriors  issued 
from  the  woods,  and  advanced  slowly  toward  the  dwellings. 
One  in  front  bore  a  short  pole,  on  which,  as  it  afterward 
appeared,  were  suspended  several  human  scalps.  The  start- 
ling sounds  that  Duncan  had  heard,  were  what  the  whites 
have,  not  inappropriately,  called  the  "death-hallo;"  and 
each  repetition  of  the  cry  was  intended  to  announce  to  the 
tribe  the  fate  of  an  enemy.  Thus  far  the  knowledge  of 
Heyward  assisted  him  in  the  explanation;  and  as  he  now 
knew  that  the  interruption  was  caused  by  the  unlooked-for 
return  of  a  successful  war-party,  every  disagreeable  sensa- 
tion was  quieted  in  inward  congratulations,  for  the  oppor- 
tune relief  and  insignificance  it  conferred  on  himself. 

When  at  the  distance  of  a  few  hundred  feet  from  the 
lodges,  the  newly  arrived  warriors  halted.  Their  plaintive 
and  terrific  cry,  which  was  intended  to  represent  equally 
the  wailings  of  the  dead  and  the  triumph  of  the  victors,  had 
entirely  ceased.  One  of  their  number  now  called  aloud,  in 
words  that  were  far  from  appalling,  though  not  more  intel- 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS.  3OI 

ligible  to  those  for  whose  ears  they  were  intended,  than 
their  expressive  yells.  It  would  be  difficult  to  convey  a 
suitable  idea  of  the  savage  ecstasy  with  which  the  news, 
thus  imparted,  was  received.  The  whole  encampment,  in  a 
moment,  became  a  scene  of  the  most  violent  bustle  and  com- 
motion. The  warriors  drew  their  knives,  and  flourishing 
them,  they  arranged  themselves  in  two  lines,  forming  a  lane 
that  extended  from  the  war-party  to  the  lodges.  The  squaws 
seized  clubs,  axes,  or  whatever  weapon  of  offence  first  of- 
fered itself  to  their  hands,  and  rushed  eagerly  to  act  their 
part  in  the  cruel  game  that  was  at  hand.  Even  the  chil- 
dren would  not  be  excluded;  but  boys,  little  able  to  wield 
the  instruments,  tore  the  tomahawks  from  the  belts  of  their 
fathers,  and  stole  into  the  ranks,  apt  imitators  of  the  savage 
traits  exhibited  by  their  parents. 

Large  piles  of  brush  lay  scattered  about  the  clearing,  and 
a  wary  and  aged  squaw  was  occupied  in  firing  as  many  as 
might  serve  to  light  the  coming  exhibition.  As  the  flame 
arose,  its  power  exceeded  that  of  the  parting  day,  and  as- 
sisted to  render  objects  at  the  same  time  more  distinct  and 
more  hideous.  The  whole  scene  formed  a  striking  picture, 
whose  frame  was  composed  of  the  dark  and  tall  border  of 
pines.  The  warriors  just  arrived  were  the  most  distant 
figures.  A  little  in  advance  stood  two  men,  who  were  ap- 
parently selected  from  the  rest,  as  the  principal  actors  in 
what  was  to  follow.  The  light  was  not  strong  enough  to 
render  their  features  distinct,  though  it  was  quite  evident 
that  they  were  governed  by  very  different  emotions.  While 
one  stood  erect  and  firm,  prepared  to  meet  his  fate  like  a 
hero,  the  other  bowed  his  head,  as  if  palsied  by  terror  or 
stricken  with  shame.  The  high-spirited  Duncan  felt  a  pow- 
erful impulse  of  admiration  and  pity  toward  the  former, 
though  no  opportunity  could  offer  to  exhibit  his  generous 
emotions.  He  watched  his  slightest  movement,  however, 
with  eager  eyes ;  and  as  he  traced  the  fine  outline  of  his  ad- 
mirably proportioned  and  active  frame,  he  endeavored  to  per- 


302  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

suade  himself,  that  if  the  powers  of  man,  seconded  by  such 
noble  resolution,  could  bear  one  harmless  through  so  severe  a 
trial,  the  youthful  captive  before  him  might  hope  for  success 
in  the  hazardous  race  he  was  about  to  run.  Insensibly  the 
young  man  drew  nigher  to  the  swarthy  lines  of  the  Hurons, 
and  scarcely  breathed,  so  intense  became  his  interest  in  the 
spectacle.  Just  then  the  signal  yell  was  given,  and  the  mo- 
mentary quiet  which  had  preceded  it  was  broken  by  a  burst 
of  cries,  that  far  exceeded  any  before  heard.  The  most  ab- 
ject of  the  two  victims  continued  motionless;  but  the  other 
bounded  from  the  place  at  the  cry,  with  the  activity  and 
swiftness  of  a  deer.  Instead  of  rushing  through  the  hostile 
lines,  as  had  been  expected,  he  just  entered  the  dangerous 
defile,  and  before  time  was  given  for  a  single  blow,  turned 
short,  and  leaping  the  heads  of  a  row  of  children,  he  gained 
at  once  the  exterior  and  safer  side  of  the  formidable  array. 
The  artifice  was  answered  by  a  hundred  voices  raised  in 
imprecations;  and  the  whole  of  the  excited  multitude  broke 
from  their  order,  and  spread  themselves  about  the  place  in 
wild  confusion. 

A  dozen  blazing  piles  now  shed  their  lurid  brightness  on 
the  place,  which  resembled  some  unhallowed  and  supernat- 
ural arena,  in  which  malicious  demons  had  assembled  to  act 
their  bloody  and  lawless  rites.  The  forms  in  the  back- 
ground looked  like  unearthly  beings,  gliding  before  the  eye, 
and  cleaving  the  air  with  frantic  and  unmeaning  gestures; 
while  the  savage  passions  of  such  as  passed  the  flames,  were 
rendered  fearfully  distinct  by  the  gleams  that  shot  athwart 
their  inflamed  visages. 

It  will  easily  be  understood,  that  amid  such  a  concourse 
of  vindictive  enemies,  no  breathing  time  was  allowed  the 
fugitive.  There  was  a  single  moment  when  it  seemed  as  if 
he  would  have  reached  the  forest,  but  the  whole  body  of  his 
captors  threw  themselves  before  him,  and  drove  him  back 
into  the  centre  of  his  relentless  persecutors.  Turning  like 
a  headed  deer,  he   shot,  with  the  swiftness  of   an   arrow, 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  303 

through  a  pillar  of  forked  flame,  and  passing  the  whole  mul- 
titude harmless,  he  appeared  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
clearing.  Here  too  he  was  met  and  turned  by  a  few  of  the 
older  and  more  subtle  of  the  Hurons.  Once  more  he  tried 
the  throng,  as  if  seeking  safety  in  its  blindness,  and  then 
several  moments  succeeded,  during  which  Duncan  believed 
the  active  and  courageous  young  stranger  was  lost. 

Nothing  could  be  distinguished  but  a  dark  mass  of  human 
forms  tossed  and  involved  in  inextricable  confusion.  Arms, 
gleaming  knives,  and  formidable  clubs,  appeared  above 
them,  but  the  blows  were  evidently  given  at  random.  The 
awful  effect  was  heightened  by  the  piercing  shrieks  of  the 
women  and  the  fierce  yells  of  the  warriors.  Now  and  then 
Duncan  caught  a  glimpse  of  a  light  form  cleaving  the  air 
in  some  desperate  bound,  and  he  rather  hoped  than  believed 
that  the  captive  yet  retained  the  command  of  his  astonish- 
ing powers  of  activity.  Suddenly  the  multitude  rolled  back- 
ward, and  approached  the  spot  where  he  himself  stood. 
The  heavy  body  in  the  rear  pressed  upon  the  women  and 
children  in  front,  and  bore  them  to  the  earth.  The  stran- 
ger re-appeared  in  the  confusion.  Human  power  could  not, 
however,  much  longer  endure  so  severe  a  trial.  Of  this  the 
captive  seemed  conscious.  Profiting  by  the  momentary 
opening,  he  darted  from  among  the  warriors,  and  made  a 
desperate,  and,  what  seemed  to  Duncan,  a  final  effort  to  gain 
the  wood.  As  if  aware  that  no  danger  was  to  be  appre- 
hended from  the  young  soldier,  the  fugitive  nearly  brushed 
his  person  in  his  flight.  A  tall  and  powerful  Huron,  who 
had  husbanded  his  forces,  pressed  close  upon  his  heels,  and 
with  an  uplifted  arm  menaced  a  fatal  blow.  Duncan  thrust 
forth  a  foot,  and  the  shock  precipitated  the  eager  savage 
headlong,  many  feet  in  advance  of  his  intended  victim. 
Thought  itself  is  not  quicker  than  was  the  motion  with 
which  the  latter  profited  by  the  advantage;  he  turned, 
gleamed  like  a  meteor  again  before  the  eyes  of  Duncan,  and 
at  the  next  moment,  when  the  latter  recovered  his  recolleo 


304  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

tion,  and  gazed  around  in  quest  of  the  captive,  he  saw  him 
quietly  leaning  against  a  small  painted  post,  which  stood 
before  the  door  of  the  principal  lodge. 

Apprehensive  that  the  part  he  had  taken  in  the  escape 
might  prove  fatal  to  himself,  Duncan  left  the  place  without 
delay.  He  followed  the  crowd,  which  drew  nigh  the  lodges, 
gloomy  and  sullen,  like  any  other  multitude  that  had  been 
disappointed  in  an  execution.  Curiosity,  or  perhaps  a  bet- 
ter feeling,  induced  him  to  approach  the  stranger.  He 
found  him,  standing  with  one  arm  cast  about  the  protecting 
post,  and  breathing  thick  and  hard,  after  his  exertions,  but 
disdaining  to  permit  a  single  sign  of  suffering  to  escape. 
His  person  was  now  protected  by  immemorial  and  sacred 
usage,  until  the  tribe  in  council  had  deliberated  and  deter- 
mined on  his  fate.  It  was  not  difficult,  however,  to  foretell 
the  result,  if  any  presage  could  be  drawn  from  the  feelings 
of  those  who  crowded  the  place. 

There  was  no  term  of  abuse  known  to  the  Huron  vocabu- 
lary that  the  disappointed  women  did  not  lavishly  expend 
on  the  successful  stranger.  They  flouted  at  his  efforts,  and 
told  him,  with  bitter  scoffs,  that  his  feet  were  better  than 
his  hands;  and  that  he  merited  wings,  while  he  knew  not 
the  use  of  an  arrow  or  a  knife.  To  all  this  the  captive 
made  no  reply ;  but  was  content  to  preserve  an  attitude  in 
which  dignity  was  singularly  blended  with  disdain.  Exas- 
perated as  much  by  his  composure  as  by  his  good-fortune, 
their  words  became  unintelligible,  and  were  succeeded  by 
shrill  piercing  yells.  Just  then  the  crafty  squaw,  who  had 
taken  the  necessary  precaution  to  fire  the  piles,  made  her 
way  through  the  throng,  and  cleared  a  place  for  herself  in 
front  of  the  captive.  The  squalid  and  withered  person  of 
this  hag  might  well  have  obtained  for  her  the  character  of 
possessing  more  than  human  cunning.  Throwing  back  her 
light  vestment,  she  stretched  forth  her  long  skinny  arm,  in 
derision,  and  using  the  language  of  the  Lenape,  as  more  intel- 
ligible to  the  subject  of  her  gibes,  she  commenced  aloud, — 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS.  3O5 

"Look  you,  Delaware!''  she  said,  snapping  her  fingers 
in  his  face;  "your  nation  is  a  race  of  women,  and  the  hoe 
is  better  fitted  to  your  hands  than  the  gun.  Your  squaws 
are  the  mothers  of  deer;  but  if  a  bear,  or  a  wild  cat,  or  a 
serpent,  were  born  among  you,  ye  would  flee.  The  Huron 
girls  shall  make  you  petticoats,  and  we  will  find  you  a  hus- 
band." 

A  burst  of  savage  laughter  succeeded  this  attack,  during 
which  the  soft  and  musical  merriment  of  the  younger  fe- 
males strangely  chimed  with  the  cracked  voice  of  their  older 
and  more  malignant  companion.  But  the  stranger  was  su- 
perior to  all  their  efforts.  His  head  was  immovable;  nor 
did  he  betray  the  slightest  consciousness  that  any  were 
present,  except  when  his  haughty  eye  rolled  toward  the 
dusky  forms  of  the  warriors,  who  stalked  in  the  background, 
silent  and  sullen  observers  of  the  scene. 

Infuriated  at  the  self-command  of  the  captive,  the  woman 
placed  her  arms  akimbo;  and  throwing  herself  into  a  pos- 
ture of  defiance,  she  broke  out  anew,  in  a  torrent  of  words 
that  no  art  of  ours  could  commit  successfully  to  paper. 
Her  breath  was,  however,  expended  in  vain ;  for,  although 
distinguished  in  her  nation  as  a  proficient  in  the  art  of 
abuse,  she  was  permitted  to  work  herself  into  such  a  fury 
as  actually  to  foam  at  the  mouth,  without  causing  a  muscle 
to  vibrate  in  the  motionless  figure  of  the  stranger.  The 
effect  of  his  indifference  began  to  extend  itself  to  the  other 
spectators;  and  a  youngster,  who  was  just  quitting  the  con- 
dition of  a  boy,  to  enter  the  state  of  manhood,  attempted  to 
assist  the  termagant,  by  flourishing  his  tomahawk  before 
their  victim,  and  adding  his  empty  boasts  to  the  taunts  of 
the  woman.  Then,  indeed,  the  captive  turned  his  face  tow- 
ard the  light,  and  looked  down  on  the  stripling  with  an  ex- 
pression that  was  superior  to  contempt.  At  the  next  moment 
he  resumed  his  quiet  and  reclining  attitude  against  the  post. 
But  the  change  of  posture  had  permitted  Duncan  to  ex- 
change glances  with  the  firm  and  piercing  eyes  of  Uncas. 
20 


306  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

Breathless  with  amazement,  and  heavily  oppressed  with 
the  critical  situation  of  his  friend,  Heyward  recoiled  before 
the  look,  trembling  lest  its  meaning  might,  in  some  un- 
known manner,  hasten  the  prisoner's  fate.  There  was  not, 
however,  any  instant  cause  for  such  an  apprehension.  Just 
then  a  warrior  forced  his  way  into  the  exasperated  crowd. 
Motioning  the  women  and  children  aside  with  a  stern  ges- 
ture, he  took  Uncas  by  the  arm,  and  led  him  toward  the 
door  of  the  council  lodge.  Thither  all  the  chiefs,  and  most 
of  the  distinguished  warriors,  followed;  among  whom  the 
anxious  Heyward  found  means  to  enter  without  attracting 
any  dangerous  attention  to  himself. 

A  few  minutes  were  consumed  in  disposing  of  those  pres- 
ent in  a  manner  suitable  to  their  rank  and  influence  in  the 
tribe.  An  order  very  similar  to  that  adopted  in  the  preced- 
ing interview  was  observed;  the  aged  and  superior  chiefs 
occupying  the  area  of  the  spacious  apartment,  within  the 
powerful  light  of  a  glaring  torch,  while  their  juniors  and 
inferiors  were  arranged  in  the  background,  presenting  a 
dark  outline  of  swarthy  and  marked  visages.  In  the  very 
centre  of  the  lodge,  immediately  under  an  opening  that  ad- 
mitted the  twinkling  light  of  one  or  two  stars,  stood  Uncas, 
— calm,  elevated,  and  collected.  His  high  and  haughty 
carriage  was  not  lost  on  his  captors,  who  often  bent  their 
looks  on  his  person,  with  eyes  which,  while  they  lost  none 
of  their  inflexibility  of  purpose,  plainly  betrayed  their  admi- 
ration of  the  stranger's  daring. 

The  case  was  different  with  the  individual  whom  Duncan 
had  observed  to  stand  forth  with  his  friend,  previously  to 
the  desperate  trial  of  speed;  and  who,  instead  of  joining  in 
the  chase,  had  remained,  throughout  its  turbulent  uproar, 
like  a  cringing  statue,  expressive  of  shame  and  disgrace. 
Though  not  a  hand  had  been  extended  to  greet  him,  nor  yet 
an  eye  had  condescended  to  watch  his  movements,  he  had 
also  entered  the  lodge,  as  though  impelled  by  a  fate  to  whose 
decrees  he  submitted,  seemingly,  without  a  struggle.      Hey- 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  30/ 

ward  profited  by  the  first  opportunity  to  gaze  in  his  face, 
secretly  apprehensive  he  might  find  the  features  of  another 
acquaintance;  but  they  proved  to  be  those  of  a  stranger, 
and,  what  was  still  more  inexplicable,  of  one  who  bore  all 
the  distinctive  marks  of  a  Huron  warrior.  Instead  of  min- 
gling with  his  tribe,  however,  he  sat  apart,  a  solitary  being 
in  a  multitude,  his  form  shrinking  into  a  crouching  and 
abject  attitude,  as  if  anxious  to  fill  as  little  space  as  possi- 
ble. When  each  individual  had  taken  his  proper  station, 
and  silence  reigned  in  the  place,  the  grey-haired  chief 
already  introduced  to-  the  reader  spoke  aloud,  in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Lenni  Lenape. 

"  Delaware,"  he  said,  "  though  one  of  a  nation  of  women, 
you  have  proved  yourself  a  man.  I  would  give  you  food ; 
but  he  who  eats  with  a  Huron  should  become  his  friend. 
Rest  in  peace  till  the  morning  sun,  when  our  last  words 
shall  be  spoken." 

"  Seven  nights,  and  as  many  summer  days,  have  I  fasted 
on  the  trail  of  the  Hurons,"  Uncas  coldly  replied;  "the 
children  of  the  Lenape  know  how  to  travel  the  path  of  the 
just  without  lingering  to  eat." 

"Two  of  my  young  men  are  in  pursuit  of  your  compan- 
ion," resumed  the  other,  without  appearing  to  regard  the 
boast  of  his  captive;  "when  they  get  back,  then  will  our 
wise  men  say  to  you  '  live  or  die.'  " 

" Has  a  Huron  no  ears?"  scornfully  exclaimed  Uncas; 
"  twice,  since  he  has  been  your  prisoner,  has  the  Delaware 
heard  a  gun  that  he  knows.  Your  young  men  will  never 
come  back." 

A  short  and  sullen  pause  succeeded  this  bold  assertion. 
Duncan,  who  understood  the  Mohican  to  allude  to  the  fatal 
rifle  of  the  scout,  bent  forward  in  earnest  observation  of  the 
effect  it  might  produce  on  the  conquerors ;  but  the  chief  was 
content  with  simply  retorting, — 

"  If  the  Lenape  are  so  skilful,  why  is  one  of  their  bravest 
warriors  here  ?  " 


308  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

"  He  followed  in  the  steps  of  a  flying  coward,  and  fell 
into  a  snare.     The  cunning  beaver  may  be  caught." 

As  Uncas  thus  replied,  he  pointed  with  his  finger  toward 
the  solitary  Huron,  but  without  deigning  to  bestow  any  other 
notice  on  so  unworthy  an  object.  The  words  of  the  answer 
and  the  air  of  the  speaker  produced  a  strong  sensation 
among  his  auditors.  Every  eye  rolled  sullenly  toward  the 
individual  indicated  by  the  simple  gesture,  and  a  low, 
threatening  murmur  passed  through  the  crowd.  The  omi- 
nous sounds  reached  the  outer  door,  and  the  women  and  chil- 
dren pressing  into  the  throng,  no  gaps  had  been  left,  between 
shoulder  and  shoulder,  that  was  not  now  filled  with  the 
dark  lineaments  of  some  eager  and  curious  human  counte- 
nance. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  more  aged  chiefs,  in  the  centre, 
communed  with  each  other  in  short  and  broken  sentences. 
Not  a  word  was  uttered  that  did  not  convey  the  meaning  of 
the  speaker,  in  the  simplest  and  most  energetic  form. 
Again,  a  long  and  deeply  solemn  pause  took  place.  It  was 
known,  by  all  present,  to  be  the  grave  precursor  of  a  weighty 
and  important  judgment.  They  who  composed  the  outer 
circle  of  faces  were  on  tiptoe  to  gaze;  and  even  the  culprit 
for  an  instant  forgot  his  shame  in  a  deeper  emotion,  and 
exposed  his  abject  features,  in  order  to  cast  an  anxious  and 
troubled  glance  at  the  dark  assemblage  of  chiefs.  The 
silence  was  finally  broken  by  the  aged  warrior  so  often 
named.  He  arose  from  the  earth,  and,  moving  past  the  im- 
movable form  of  Uncas,  placed  himself  in  a  dignified  atti- 
tude before  the  offender.  At  that  moment  the  withered 
squaw  already  mentioned  moved  into  the  circle,  in  a  slow, 
sideling  sort  of  a  dance,  holding  the  torch,  and  muttering 
the  indistinct  words  of  what  might  have  been  a  species  of 
incantation.  Though  her  presence  was  altogether  an  intru- 
sion, it  was  unheeded. 

Approaching  Uncas,  she  held  the  blazing  brand  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  cast  its  red  glare  on  his  person,  and  to  expose 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  309 

the  slightest  emotion  of  his  countenance.  The  Mohican 
maintained  his  firm  and  haughty  attitude;  and  his  eye,  so 
far  from  deigning  to  meet  her  inquisitive  look,  dwelt  steadily 
on  the  distance,  as  though  it  penetrated  the  obstacles  which 
impeded  the  view,  and  looked  into  futurity.  Satisfied  with 
her  examination,  she  left  him,  with  a  slight  expression  of 
pleasure,  and  proceeded  to  practise  the  same  trying  experi- 
ment on  her  delinquent  countryman. 

The  young  Huron  was  in  his  war  paint,  and  very  little  of 
a  finely  moulded  form  was  concealed  by  his  attire.  The 
light  rendered  every  limb  and  joint  discernible,  and  Duncan 
turned  away  in  horror  when  he  saw  they  were  writhing  in 
irrepressible  agony.  The  woman  was  commencing  a  low 
and  plaintive  howl  at  the  sad  and  shameful  spectacle,  when 
the  chief  put  forth  his  hand  and  gently  pushed  her  aside. 

"  Reed-that-bends,"  he  said,  addressing  the  young  culprit 
by  name,  and  in  his  proper  language,  "  though  the  Great 
Spirit  has  made  you  pleasant  to  the  eyes,  it  would  have  been 
better  that  you  had  not  been  born.  Your  tongue  is  loud  in 
the  village,  but  in  battle  it  is  still.  None  of  my  young  men 
strike  the  tomahawk  deeper  into  the  war-post — none  of  them 
so  lightly  on  the  Yengeese.  The  enemy  know  the  shape  of 
your  back,  but  they  have  never  seen  the  color  of  your  eyes. 
Three  times  have  they  called  on  you  to  come,  and  as  often 
did  you  forget  to  answer.  Your  name  will  never  be  men- 
tioned again  in  your  tribe — it  is  already  forgotten." 

As  the  chief  slowly  uttered  these  words,  pausing  impres- 
sively between  each  sentence,  the  culprit  raised  his  face,  in 
deference  to  the  other's  rank  and  years.  Shame,  horror,  and 
pride  struggled  in  its  lineaments.  His  eye,  which  was  con- 
tracted with  inward  anguish,  gleamed  on  the  persons  of  those 
whose  breath  was  his  fame ;  and  the  latter  emotion  for  an 
instant  predominated.  He  arose  to  his  feet,  and  baring  his 
bosom,  looked  steadily  on  the  keen,  glittering  knife,  that 
was  already  upheld  by  his  inexorable  judge.  As  the  wea- 
pon passed  slowly  into  his  heart  he  even  smiled,  as  if  in 


3IO  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

joy  at  having  found  death  less  dreadful  than  he  had  antici- 
pated, and  fell  heavily  on  his  face,  at  the  feet  of  the  rigid 
and  unyielding  form  of  Uncas. 

The  squaw  gave  a  loud  and  plaintive  yell,  dashed  the 
torch  to  the  earth,  and  buried  everything  in  darkness.  The 
whole  shuddering  group  of  spectators  glided  from  the  lodge, 
like  troubled  sprites;  and  Duncan  thought  that  he  and  the 
yet  throbbing  body  of  the  victim  of  an  Indian  judgment  had 
now  become  its  only  tenants. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


Thus  spoke  the  sage :  the  kings  without  delay 
Dissolve  the  council,  and  their  chief  obey. 

Pope's  Iliad. 

A  single  moment  served  to  convince  the  youth  that  he 
was  mistaken.  A  hand  was  laid,  with  a  powerful  pressure, 
on  his  arm,  and  the  low  voice  of  Uncas  muttered  in  his 
ears — 

"  The  Hurons  are  dogs.  The  sight  of  a  coward's  blood 
can  never  make  a  warrior  tremble.  The  '  Grey  Head '  and 
the  Sagamore  are  safe,  and  the  rifle  of  Hawk-eye  is  not 
asleep.  Go — Uncas  and  the  '  Open  hand  '  are  now  stran- 
gers.    It  is  enough." 

Heyward  would  gladly  have  heard  more,  but  a  gentle  push 
from  his  friend  urged  him  toward  the  door,  and  admonished 
him  of  the  danger  that  might  attend  the  discovery  of  their 
intercourse.  Slowly  and  reluctantly  yielding  to  the  neces- 
sity, he  quitted  the  place,  and  mingled  with  the  throng  that 
hovered  nigh.  The  dying  fires  in  the  clearing  cast  a  dim 
and  uncertain  light  on  the  dusky  figures  that  were  silently 
stalking  to  and  fro;  and  occasionally  a  brighter  gleam  than 
common  glanced  into  the  lodge,  and  exhibited  the  figure  of 
Uncas  still  maintaining  its  upright  attitude  near  the  dead 
body  of  the  Huron. 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS.  311 

A  knot  of  warriors  soon  entered  the  place  again,  and  re- 
issuing, they  bore  the  senseless  remains  into  the  adjacent 
woods.  After  this  termination  of  the  scene,  Duncan  wan- 
dered among  the  lodges,  unquestioned  and  unnoticed,  en- 
deavoring to  find  some  trace  of-  her  in  whose  behalf  he 
incurred  the  risk  he  ran.  In  the  present  temper  of  the 
tribe,  it  would  have  been  easy  to  have  fled  and  rejoined  his 
companions,  had  such  a  wish  crossed  his  mind.  But,  in 
addition  to  the  never-ceasing  anxiety  on  account  of  Alice,  a 
fresher,  though  feebler,  interest  in  the  fate  of  Uncas  assisted 
to  chain  him  to  the  spot.  He  continued,  therefore,  to  stray 
from  hut  to  hut,  looking  into  each  only  to  encounter  addi- 
tional disappointment,  until  he  had  made  the  entire  circuit 
of  the  village.  Abandoning  a  species  of  inquiry  that  proved 
so  fruitless,  he  retraced  his  steps  to  the  council  lodge,  re- 
solved to  seek  and  question  David,  in  order  to  put  an  end 
to  his  doubts. 

On  reaching  the  building  which  had  proved  alike  the  seat 
of  judgment  and  the  place  of  execution,  the  young  man 
found  that  the  excitement  had  already  subsided.  The  war- 
riors had  re-assembled,  and  were  now  calmly  smoking,  while 
they  conversed  gravely  on  the  chief  incidents  of  their  recent 
expedition  to  the  head  of  the  Horican.  Though  the  return 
of  Duncan  was  likely  to  remind  them  of  his  character,  and 
the  suspicious  circumstances  of  his  visit,  it  produced  no 
visible  sensation.  So  far,  the  terrible  scene  that  had  just 
occurred  proved  favorable  to  his  views,  and  he  required  no 
other  prompter  than  his  own  feelings  to  convince  him  of  the 
expediency  of  profiting  by  so  unexpected  an  advantage. 

Without  seeming  to  hesitate,  he  walked  into  the  lodge, 
and  took  his  seat  with  a  gravity  that  accorded  admirably 
with  the  deportment  of  his  hosts.  A  hasty  but  searching 
glance  sufficed  to  tell  him  that,  though  Uncas  still  remained 
where  he  had  left  him,  David  had  not  reappeared.  No  other 
restraint  was  imposed  on  the  former  than  the  watchful  looks 
of  a  young  Huron,  who  had  placed  himself  at  hand;  though 


312  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

an  armed  warrior  leaned  against  the  post  that  formed  one 
side  of  the  narrow  door-way.  In  every  other  respect,  the 
captive  seemed  at  liberty;  still  he  was  excluded  from  all 
participation  in  the  discourse,  and  possessed  much  more  of 
the  air  of  some  finely  moulded  statue  than  a  man  having  life 
and  volition. 

Heyward  had  too  recently  witnessed  a  frightful  instance 
of  the  prompt  punishments  of  the  people  into  whose  hands 
he  had  fallen,  to  hazard  an  exposure  by  any  officious  bold- 
ness. He  would  greatly  have  preferred  silence  and  medita- 
tion to  speech,  when  a  discovery  of  his  real  condition  might 
prove  so  instantly  fatal.  Unfortunately  for  this  prudent 
resolution,  his  entertainers  appeared  otherwise  disposed. 
He  had  not  long  occupied  the  seat  wisely  taken  a  little  in 
the  shade,  when  another  of  the  elder  warriors,  who  spoke  the 
French  language,  addressed  him — 

"My  Canada  father  does  not  forget  his  children,"  said 
the  chief;  "I  thank  him.  An  evil  spirit  lives  in  the  wife 
of  one  of  my  young  men.  Can  the  cunning  stranger  frighten 
him  away?  " 

Heyward  possessed  some  knowledge  of  the  mummery 
practised  among  the  Indians,  in  the  cases  of  such  supposed 
visitations.  He  saw,  at  a  glance,  that  the  circumstance 
might  possibly  be  improved  to  further  his  own  ends.  It 
would,  therefore,  have  been  difficult,  just  then,  to  have  ut- 
tered a  proposal  that  would  have  given  him  more  satisfac- 
tion. Aware  of  the  necessity  of  preserving  the  dignity  of 
his  imaginary  character,  however,  he  repressed  his  feelings, 
and  answered  with  suitable  mystery — 

"Spirits  differ;  some  yield  to  the  power  of  wisdom,  while 
others  are  too  strong." 

"  My  brother  is  a  great  medicine,"  said  the  cunning  sav- 
age; "he  will  try?  " 

A  gesture  of  assent  was  the  answer.  The  Huron  was  con- 
tent with  the  assurance,  and  resuming  his  pipe,  he  awaited 
the  proper  moment  to  move.     The  impatient  Heyward,  in- 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  313 

wardly  execrating  the  cold  customs  of  the  savages,  which 
required  such  sacrifices  to  appearance,  was  fain  to  assume 
an  air  of  indifference,  equal  to  that  maintained  by  the  chief, 
who  was,  in  truth,  a  near  relative  of  the  afflicted  woman. 
The  minutes  lingered,  and  the  delay  had  seemed  an  hour 
to  the  adventurer  in  empiricism,  when  the  Huron  laid  aside 
his  pipe,  and  drew  his  robe  across  his  breast,  as  if  about  to 
lead  the  way  to  the  lodge  of  the  invalid.  Just  then,  a  war- 
rior of  powerful  frame  darkened  the  door,  and  stalking 
silently  among  the  attentive  group,  he  seated  himself  on 
one  end  of  the  low  pile  of  brush  which  sustained  Duncan. 
The  latter  cast  an  impatient  look  at  his  neighbor,  and  felt 
his  flesh  creep  with  uncontrollable  horror  when  he  found 
himself  in  actual  contact  with  Magua. 

The  sudden  return  of  this  artful  and  dreaded  chief  caused 
a  delay  in  the  departure  of  the  Huron.  Several  pipes,  that 
had  been  extinguished,  were  lighted  again ;  while  the  new- 
comer, without  speaking  a  word,  drew  his  tomahawk  from 
his  girdle,  and  filling  the  bowl  on  its  head,  began  to  inhale 
the  vapors  of  the  weed  through  the  hollow  handle,  with  as 
much  indifference  as  if  he  had  not  been  absent  two  weary 
days  on  a  long  and  toilsome  hunt.  Ten  minutes,  which 
appeared  so  many  ages  to  Duncan,  might  have  passed  in 
this  manner;  and  the  warriors  were  fairly  enveloped  in  a 
cloud  of  white  smoke  before  any  of  them  spoke. 

"  Welcome !  "  one  at  length  uttered ;  "  has  my  friend  found 
the  moose  ?  " 

"The  young  men  stagger  under  their  burdens,"  returned 
Magua.  "  Let '  Reed-that-bends  '  go  on  the  hunting  path ; 
he  will  meet  them." 

A  deep  and  awful  silence  succeeded  the  utterance  of  the 
forbidden  name.  Each  pipe  dropped  from  the  lips  of  its 
owner  as  though  all  had  inhaled  an  impurity  at  the  same 
instant.  The  smoke  wreathed  above  their  heads  in  little 
eddies,  and  curling  in  a  spiral  form,  it  ascended  swiftly 
through  the  opening  in  the  roof  of  the  lodge,  leaving  the 


314  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

place  beneath  clear  of  its  fumes,  and  each  dark  visage  dis- 
tinctly visible.  The  looks  of  most  of  the  warriors  were 
riveted  on  the  earth ;  though  a  few  of  the  younger  and  less 
gifted  of  the  party  suffered  their  wild  and  glaring  eye-balls 
to  roll  in  the  direction  of  a  white-headed  savage,  who  sat 
between  two  of  the  most  venerated  chiefs  of  the  tribe. 
There  was  nothing  in  the  air  or  attire  of  this  Indian  that 
would  seem  to  entitle  him  to  such  a  distinction.  The  for- 
mer was  rather  depressed,  than  remarkable  for  the  bearing 
of  the  natives;  and  the  latter  was  such  as  was  commonly 
worn  by  the  ordinary  men  of  the  nation.  Like  most  around 
him,  for  more  than  a  minute  his  look  too  was  on  the  ground; 
but,  trusting  his  eyes  at  length  to  steal  a  glance  aside,  he 
perceived  that  he  was  becoming  an  object  of  general  atten- 
tion. Then  he  arose  and  lifted  his  voice  in  the  general 
silence. 

"It  was  a  lie,"  he  said;  "I  had  no  son.  He  who  was 
called  by  that  name  is  forgotten ;  his  blood  was  pale,  and  it 
came  not  from  the  veins  of  a  Huron ;  the  wicked  Chippewas 
cheated  my  squaw.  The  Great  Spirit  has  said,  that  the 
family  of  Wiss-en-tush  should  end — he  is  happy  who  knows 
that  the  evil  of  his  race  dies  with  himself.     I  have  done." 

The  speaker,  who  was  the  father  of  the  recreant  young 
Indian,  looked  round  and  about  him,  as  if  seeking  commen- 
dation of  his  stoicism  in  the  eyes  of  his  auditors.  But  the 
stern  customs  of  his  people  had  made  too  severe  an  exaction 
of  the  feeble  old  man.  The  expression  of  his  eye  contra- 
dicted his  figurative  and  boastful  language,  while  every 
muscle  in  his  wrinkled  visage  was  working  with  anguish. 
Standing  a  single  minute  to  enjoy  his  bitter  triumph,  he 
turned  away,  as  if  sickening  at  the  gaze  of  men,  and  veiling 
his  face  in  his  blanket,  he  walked  from  the  lodge  with  the 
noiseless  step  of  an  Indian,  seeking,  in  the  privacy  of  his 
own  abode,  the  sympathy  of  one  like  himself,  aged,  forlorn, 
and  childless. 

The  Indians,  who  believe  in  the  hereditary  transmission 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  315 

of  virtues  and  defects  in  character,  suffered  him  to  depart 
in  silence.  Then,  with  an  elevation  of  breeding  that  many 
in  a  more  cultivated  state  of  society  might  profitably  emu- 
late, one  of  the  chiefs  drew  the  attention  of  the  young  men 
from  the  weakness  they  had  just  witnessed,  by  saying,  in  a 
cheerful  voice,  addressing  himself  in  courtesy  to  Magua,  as 
the  newest  comer — 

"The  Delawares  have  been  like  bears  after  the  honey- 
pots,  prowling  around  my  village.  But  who  has  ever  found 
a  Huron  asleep?  " 

The  darkness  of  the  impending  cloud  which  precedes  a 
burst  of  thunder  was  not  blacker  than  the  brow  of  Magua 
as  he  exclaimed — 

"The  Delawares  of  the  Lakes!  " 

"Not  so.  They  who  wear  the  petticoats  of  squaws,  on 
their  own  river.     One  of  them  has  been  passing  the  tribe." 

"Did  my  young  men  take  his  scalp?  " 

"  His  legs  were  good,  though  his  arm  is  better  for  the  hoe 
than  the  tomahawk,"  returned  the  other,  pointing  to  the 
immovable  form  of  Uncas. 

Instead  of  manifesting  any  womanish  curiosity  to  feast 
his  eyes  with  the  sight  of  a  captive  from  a  people  he  was 
known  to  have  so  much  reason  to  hate,  Magua  continued  to 
smoke,  with  the  meditative  air  that  he  usually  maintained, 
when  there  was  no  immediate  call  on  his  cunning  or  his 
eloquence.  Although  secretly  amazed  at  the  facts  com- 
municated by  the  speech  of  the  aged  father,  he  permitted 
himself  to  ask  no  questions,  reserving  his  inquiries  for  a 
more  suitable  moment.  It  was  only  after  a  sufficient  inter- 
val that  he  shook  the  ashes  from  his  pipe,  replaced  the  tom- 
ahawk, tightened  his  girdle,  and  arose,  casting  for  the  first 
time  a  glance  in  the  direction  of  the  prisoner,  who  stood  a 
little  behind  him.  The  wary,  though  seemingly  abstracted 
Uncas,  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  movement,  and  turning  sud- 
denly to  the  light,  their  looks  met.  Near  a  minute  these 
two  bold  and  untamed  spirits  stood  regarding  one  another 


3l6  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

steadily  in  the  eye,  neither  quailing  in  the  least  before  the 
fierce  gaze  he  encountered.  The  form  of  Uncas  dilated, 
and  his  nostrils  opened  like  those  of  a  tiger  at  bay;  but  so 
rigid  and  unyielding  was  his  posture,  that  he  might  easily 
have  been  converted  by  the  imagination  into  an  exquisite 
and  faultless  representation  of  the  warlike  deity  of  his  tribe. 
The  lineaments  of  the  quivering  features  of  Magua  proved 
more  ductile;  his  countenance  gradually  lost  its  character 
of  defiance  in  an  expression  of  ferocious  joy,  and  heaving  a 
breath  from  the  very  bottom  of  his  chest,  he  pronounced 
aloud  the  formidable  name  of — 

"  Le  Cerf  agile !  " 

Each  warrior  sprang  upon  his  feet  at  the  utterance  of  the 
well-known  appellation,  and  there  was  a  short  period  during 
which  the  stoical  constancy  of  the  natives  was  completely 
conquered  by  surprise.  The  hated  and  yet  respected  name 
was  repeated  as  by  one  voice,  carrying  the  sound  even  be- 
yond the  limits  of  the  lodge.  The  women  and  children, 
who  lingered  around  the  entrance,  took  up  the  words  in  an 
echo,  which  was  succeeded  by  another  shrill  and  plaintive 
howl.  The  latter  was  not  yet  ended,  when  the  sensation 
among  the  men  had  entirely  abated.  Each  one  in  presence 
seated  himself,  as  though  ashamed  of  his  precipitation;  but 
it  was  many  minutes  before  their  meaning  eyes  ceased  to 
roll  toward  their  captive,  in  curious  examination  of  a  war- 
rior who  had  so  often  proved  his  prowess  on  the  best  and 
proudest  of  their  nation.  Uncas  enjoyed  his  victory,  but 
was  content  with  merely  exhibiting  his  triumph  by  a  quiet 
smile — an  emblem  of  scorn  which  belongs  to  all  time  and 
every  nation. 

Magua  caught  the  expression,  and  raising  his  arm,  he 
shook  it  at  the  captive — the  light  silver  ornaments  attached 
to  his  bracelet  rattling  with  the  trembling  agitation  of  the 
limb,  as,  in  a  tone  of  vengeance,  he  exclaimed,  in  English — 

"  Mohican,  you  die !  " 

"  The  healing  waters  will  never  bring  the  dead  Hurons 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  317 

to  life,"  returned  Uncas,  in  the  music  of  the  Delawares; 
"the  tumbling  river  washes  their  bones;  their  men  are 
squaws;  their  women  owls.  Go — call  together  the  Huron 
dogs,  that  they  may  look  upon  a  warrior.  My  nostrils  are 
offended ;  they  scent  the  blood  of  a  coward." 

The  latter  allusion  struck  deep,  and  the  injury  rankled. 
Many  of  the  Hurons  understood  the  strange  tongue  in  which 
the  captive  spoke,  among  which  number  was  Magua.  This 
cunning  savage  beheld,  and  instantly  profited  by  his  advan- 
tage. Dropping  the  light  robe  of  skin  from  his  shoulder, 
he  stretched  forth  his  arm,  and  commenced  a  burst  of  his 
dangerous  and  artful  eloquence.  However  much  his  influ- 
ence among  his  people  had  been  impaired  by  his  occasional 
and  besetting  weakness,  as  well  as  by  his  desertion  of  the 
tribe,  his  courage  and  his  fame  as  an  orator  were  undeni- 
able. He  never  spoke  without  auditors,  and  rarely  without 
making  converts  to  his  opinions.  On  the  present  occasion, 
his  native  powers  were  stimulated  by  the  thirst  of  revenge. 

He  again  recounted  the  events  of  the  attack  on  the  Island 
at  Glenn's;  the  death  of  his  associates;  and  the  escape  of 
their  most  formidable  enemies.  Then  he  described  the  na- 
ture and  position  of  the  mount  whither  he  had  led  such  cap- 
tives as  had  fallen  into  their  hands.  Of  his  own  bloody 
intentions  toward  the  maidens,  and  of  his  baffled  malice  he 
made  no  mention,  but  passed  rapidly  on  to  the  surprise  of 
the  party  by  "  La  longue  Carabine,"  and  its  fatal  termina- 
tion. Here  he  paused,  and  looked  about  him,  in  affected 
veneration  for  the  departed,  but,  in  truth,  to  note  the  effect 
of  his  opening  narrative.  As  usual,  every  eye  was  riveted 
on  his  face.  Each  dusky  figure  seemed  a  breathing  statue, 
so  motionless  was  the  posture,  so  intense  the  attention  of 
the  individual. 

Then  Magua  dropped  his  voice,  which  had  hitherto  been 
clear,  strong,  and  elevated,  and  touched  upon  the  merits  of 
the  dead.  No  quality  that  was  likely  to  command  the  sym- 
pathy of  an  Indian  escaped  his  notice.     One  had  never  been 


3l8  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

known  to  follow  the  chase  in  vain;  another  had  been  inde- 
fatigable on  the  trail  of  their  enemies.  This  was  brave,  that 
generous.  In  short,  he  so  managed  his  allusions,  that  in  a 
nation  which  was  composed  of  so  few  families,  he  contrived 
to  strike  every  chord  that  might  find,  in  its  turn,  some  breast 
in  which  to  vibrate. 

"  Are  the  bones  of  my  young  men,"  he  concluded,  "  in  the 
burial-place  of  the  Hurons  ?  You  know  they  are  not.  Their 
spirits  are  gone  toward  the  setting  sun,  and  are  already  cross- 
ing the  great  waters,  to  the  happy  hunting-grounds.  But 
they  departed  without  food,  without  guns  or  knives,  without 
moccasins,  naked  and  poor  as  they  were  born.  Shall  this 
be?  Are  their  souls  to  enter  the  land  of  the  just  like  hun- 
gry Iroquois  or  unmanly  Delawares;  or  shall  they  meet  their 
friends  with  arms  in  their  hands  and  robes  on  their  backs? 
What  will  our  fathers  think  the  tribes  of  the  Wyandots  have 
become?  They  will  look  on  their  children  with  a  dark  eye, 
and  say,  Go;  a  Chippewa  has  come  hither  with  the  name  of 
a  Huron.  Brothers,  we  must  not  forget  the  dead;  a  red- 
skin never  ceases  to  remember.  We  will  load  the  back  of 
this  Mohican  until  he  staggers  under  our  bounty,  and  dis- 
patch him  after  my  young  men.  They  call  to  us  for  aid, 
though  our  ears  are  not  open ;  they  say,  Forget  us  not. 
When  they  see  the  spirit  of  this  Mohican  toiling  after  them 
with  his  burden,  they  will  know  we  are  of  that  mind.  Then 
will  they  go  on  happy;  and  our  children  will  say,  '  So  did 
our  fathers  to  their  friends,  so  must  we  do  to  them.'  What 
is  a  Yengee?  we  have  slain  many,  but  the  earth  is  still  pale. 
A  stain  on  the  name  of  a  Huron  can  only  be  hid  by  blood 
that  comes  from  the  veins  of  an  Indian.  Let  this  Delaware 
die." 

The  effect  of  such  an  harangue,  delivered  in  the  nervous 
language  and  with  the  emphatic  manner  of  a  Huron  orator, 
could  scarcely  be  mistaken.  Magua  had  so  artfully  blended 
the  natural  sympathies  with  the  religious  superstition  of  his 
auditors,  that  their  minds,  already  prepared  by  custom  to 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS.  319 

sacrifice  a  victim  to  the  manes  of  their  countrymen,  lost 
every  vestige  of  humanity  in  a  wish  for  revenge.  One  war- 
rior in  particular,  a  man  of  wild  and  ferocious  mien,  had 
been  conspicuous  for  the  attention  he  had  given  to  the  words 
of  the  speaker.  His  countenance  had  changed  with  each 
passing  emotion,  until  it  settled  into  a  look  of  deadly  mal- 
ice. As  Magua  ended  he  arose,  and  uttering  the  yell  of  a 
demon,  his  polished  little  axe  was  seen  glancing  in  the 
torch-light  as  he  whirled  it  above  his  head.  The  motion 
and  the  cry  were  too  sudden  for  words  to  interrupt  his 
bloody  intention.  It  appeared  as  if  a  bright  gleam  shot 
from  his  hand,  which  was  crossed  at  the  same  moment  by  a 
dark  and  powerful  line.  The  former  was  the  tomahawk  in 
its  passage ;  the  latter  the  arm  that  Magua  darted  forward 
to  divert  its  aim.  The  quick  and  ready  motion  of  the  chief 
was  not  entirely  too  late.  The  keen  weapon  cut  the  war- 
plume  from  the  scalping  tuft  cf  Uncas,  and  passed  through 
the  frail  wall  of  the  lodge  as  though  it  were  hurled  fiom 
some  formidable  engine. 

Duncan  had  seen  the  threatening  action,  and  sprang  upon 
his  feet,  with  a  heart  which,  while  it  leaped  into  his  throat, 
swelled  with  the  most  generous  resolution  in  behalf  of  his 
friend.  A  glance  told  him  that  the  blow  had  failed,  and 
terror  changed  to  admiration.  Uncas  stood  still,  looking 
his  enemy  in  the  eye  with  features  that  seemed  superior  to 
emotion.  Marble  could  not  be  colder,  calmer,  or  steadier 
than  the  countenance  he  put  upon  this  sudden  and  vindic- 
tive attack.  Then,  as  if  pitying  a  want  of  skill  which  had 
proved  so  fortunate  to  himself,  he  smiled,,  and  muttered  a 
few  words  of  contempt  in  his  own  tongue. 

"  No!  "  said  Magua,  after  satisfying  himself  of  the  safety 
of  the  captive;  "the  sun  must  shine  on  his  shame;  the 
squaws  must  see  his  flesh  tremble,  or  our  revenge  will  be 
like  the  play  of  boys.  Go — take  him  where  there  is  silence, 
let  us  see  if  a  Delaware  can  sleep  at  night,  and  in  the  morn- 
ing die." 


320         THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

The  young  men  whose  duty  it  was  to  guard  the  prisoner 
instantly  passed  their  ligaments  of  bark  across  his  arms, 
and  led  him  from  the  lodge,  amid  a  profound  and  ominous 
silence.  It  was  only  as  the  figure  of  Uncas  stood  in  the 
opening  of  the  door  that  his  firm  step  hesitated.  There  he 
turned,  and,  in  the  sweeping  and  haughty  glance  that  he 
threw  around  the  circle  of  his  enemies,  Duncan  caught  a 
look,  which  he  was  glad  to  construe  into  an  expression  that 
he  was  not  entirely  deserted  by  hope. 

Magua  was  content  with  his  success,  or  too  much  occu- 
pied with  his  secret  purposes  to  push  his  inquiries  any  fur- 
ther. Shaking  his  mantle,  and  folding  it  on  his  bosom,  he 
also  quitted  the  place,  without  pursuing  a  subject  which 
might  have  proved  so  fatal  to  the  individual  at  his  elbow. 
Notwithstanding  his  rising  resentment,  his  natural  firmness, 
and  his  anxiety  in  behalf  of  Uncas,  Heyward  felt  sensibly 
relieved  by  the  absence  of  so  dangerous  and  so  subtle  a  foe. 
The  excitement  produced  by  the  speech  gradually  subsided. 
The  warriors  resumed  their  seats,  and  clouds  of  smoke  once 
more  filled  the  lodge.  For  near  half  an  hour,  not  a  syllable 
was  uttered,  or  scarcely  a  look  cast  aside — a  grave  and  medi- 
tative silence  being  in  the  ordinary  succession  to  every  scene 
of  violence  and  commotion  amongst  those  beings,  who  were 
alike  so  impetuous  and  yet  so  self-restrained. 

When  the  chief  who  had  solicited  the  aid  of  Duncan 
finished  his  pipe,  he  made  a  final  and  successful  movement 
toward  departing.  A  motion  of  a  finger  was  the  intimation 
he  gave  the  supposed  physician  to  follow;  and  passing 
through  the  clouds  of  smoke,  Duncan  was  glad,  on  more  ac- 
counts than  one,  to  be  able,  at  last,  to  breathe  the  pure  air 
of  a  cool  and  refreshing  summer  evening. 

Instead  of  pursuing  his  way  among  those  lodges  where 
Heyward  had  already  made  his  unsuccessful  search,  his 
companion  turned  aside,  and  proceeded  directly  toward  the 
base  of  an  adjacent  mountain,  which  overhung  the  tempo- 
rary village.     A  thicket  of  brush  skirted  its  foot,  and  it  be- 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  321 

came  necessary  to  proceed  through  a  crooked  and  narrow 
path.  The  boys  had  resumed  their  sports  in  the  clearing, 
and  were  enacting  a  mimic  chase  to  the  post  among  them- 
selves. In  order  to  render  their  games  as  like  the  reality 
as  possible,  one  of  the  boldest  of  their  number  had  conveyed 
a  few  brands  into  some  piles  of  tree-tops  that  had  hitherto 
escaped  the  burning.  The  blaze  of  one  of  these  fires  lighted 
the  way  of  the  chief  and  Duncan,  and  gave  a  character  of 
additional  wildness  to  the  rude  scenery.  At  a  little  dis- 
tance from  a  bald  rock,  and  directly  in  its  front,  they  en- 
tered a  grassy  opening,  which  they  prepared  to  cross.  Just 
then  fresh  fuel  was  added  to  the  fire,  and  a  powerful  light 
penetrated  even  to  that  distant  spot.  It  fell  upon  the  white 
surface  of  the  mountain,  and  was  reflected  downward  upon 
a  dark  and  mysterious-looking  being  that  arose,  unexpect- 
edly, in  their  path. 

The  Indian  paused,  as  if  doubtful  whether  to  proceed,  and 
permitted  his  companion  to  approach  his  side.  A  large 
black  ball,  which  at  first  seemed  stationary,  now  began  to 
move  in  a  manner  that  to  the  latter  was  inexplicable.  Again 
the  fire  brightened,  and  its  glare  fell  more  distinctly  on  the 
object.  Then  even  Duncan  knew  it,  by  its  restless  and 
sideling  attitudes,  which  kept  the  upper  part  of  its  form  in 
constant  motion,  while  the  animal  itself  appeared  seated, 
to  be  a  bear.  Though  it  growled  loudly  and  fiercely,  and 
there  were  instants  when  its  glistening  eyeballs  might  be 
seen,  it  gave  no  other  indications  of  hostility.  The  Huron, 
at  least,  seemed  assured  that  the  intentions  of  this  singular 
intruder  were  peaceable,  for  after  giving  it  an  attentive  ex- 
amination, he  quietly  pursued  his  course. 

Duncan,  who  knew  that  the  animal  was  often  domesti- 
cated among  the  Indians,  followed  the  example  of  his  com- 
panion, believing  that  some  favorite  of  the  tribe  had  found 
its  way  into  the  thicket,  in  search  of  food.  They  passed  it 
unmolested.  Though  obliged  to  come  nearly  in  contact 
with  the  monster,  the  Huron,  who  had  at  first  so  warily  de- 
21 


322  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

termined  the  character  of  his  strange  visitor,  was  now  con- 
tent with  proceeding  without  wasting  a  moment  in  further 
examination;  but  Heyward  was  unable  to  prevent  his  eyes 
from  looking  backward,  in  salutary  watchfulness  against 
attacks  in  the  rear.  His  uneasiness  was  in  no  degree  di- 
minished when  he  perceived  the  beast  rolling  along  their 
path,  and  following  their  footsteps.  He  would  have  spoken, 
but  the  Indian  at  that  moment  shoved  aside  a  door  of  bark, 
and  entered  a  cavern  in  the  bosom  of  the  mountain. 

Profiting  by  so  easy  a  method  of  retreat,  Duncan  stepped 
after  him,  and  was  gladly  closing  the  slight  cover  to  the 
opening,  when  he  felt  it  drawn  from  his  hand  by  the  beast, 
whose  shaggy  form  immediately  darkened  the  passage. 
They  were  now  in  a  straight  and  long  gallery,  in  a  chasm 
of  the  rocks,  where  retreat  without  encountering  the  animal 
was  impossible.  Making  the  best  of  the  circumstances,  the 
young  man  pressed  forward,  keeping  as  close  as  possible  to 
his  conductor.  The  bear  growled  frequently  at  his  heels, 
and  once  or  twice  its  enormous  paws  were  laid  on  his  per- 
son, as  if  disposed  to  prevent  his  further  passage  into  the 
den. 

How  long  the  nerves  of  Heyward  would  have  sustained 
him  in  this  extraordinary  situation,  it  might  be  difficult  to 
decide;  for,  happily,  he  soon  found  relief.  A  glimmer  of 
light  had  constantly  been  in  their  front,  and  they  now  ar- 
rived at  the  place  whence  it  proceeded. 

A  large  cavity  in  the  rock  had  been  rudely  fitted  to  answer 
the  purposes  of  many  apartments.  The  subdivisions  were 
simple  but  ingenious,  being  composed  of  stone,  sticks,  and 
bark,  intermingled.  Openings  above  admitted  the  light  by 
day,  and  at  night  fires  and  torches  supplied  the  place  of  the 
sun.  Hither  the  Hurons  had  brought  most  of  their  valu- 
ables, especially  those  which  more  particularly  pertained  to 
the  nation ;  and  hither,  as  it  now  appeared,  the  sick  woman, 
who  was  believed  to  be  the  victim  of  supernatural  power, 
had  been  transported  also,  under  an  impression   that  her 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  323 

tormentor  would  find  more  difficulty  in  making  his  assaults 
through  walls  of  stone  than  through  the  leafy  coverings  of 
the  lodges.  The  apartment  into  which  Duncan  and  his 
guide  first  entered,  had  been  exclusively  devoted  to  her  ac- 
commodation. The  latter  approached  her  bedside,  which 
was  surrounded  by  females,  in  the  centre  of  whom  Heyward 
was  surprised  to  find  his  missing  friend  David. 

A  single  look  was  sufficient  to  apprise  the  pretended  leech 
that  the  invalid  was  far  beyond  his  powers  of  healing.  She 
lay  in  a  sort  of  paralysis,  indifferent  to  the  objects  which 
crowded  before  her  sight,  and  happily  unconscious  of  suffer- 
ing. Heyward  was  far  from  regretting  that  his  mummeries 
were  to  be  performed  on  one  who  was  much  too  ill  to  take 
an  interest  in  their  failure  or  success.  The  slight  qualm  of 
conscience  which  had  been  excited  by  the  intended  decep- 
tion was  instantly  appeased,  and  he  began  to  collect  his 
thoughts,  in  order  to  enact  his  part  with  suitable  spirit, 
when  he  found  he  was  about  to  be  anticipated  in  his  skill 
by  an  attempt  to  prove  the  power  of  music. 

Gamut,  who  had  stood  prepared  to  pour  forth  his  spirit  in 
song  when  the  visitors  entered,  after  delaying  a  moment, 
drew  a  strain  from  his  pipe,  and  commenced  a  hymn  that 
might  have  worked  a  miracle,  had  faith  in  its  efficacy  been 
of  much  avail.  He  was  allowed  to  proceed  to  the  close, 
the  Indians  respecting  his  imaginary  infirmity,  and  Duncan 
too  glad  of  the  delay  to  hazard  the  slightest  interruption. 
As  the  dying  cadence  of  his  strains  was  falling  on  the  ears 
of  the  latter,  he  started  aside  at  hearing  them  repeated  be- 
hind him,  in  a  voice  half  human  and  half  sepulchral.  Look- 
ing around,  he  beheld  the  shaggy  monster  seated  on  end  in 
a  shadow  of  the  cavern,  where,  while  his  restless  body 
swung  in  the  uneasy  manner  of  the  animal,  it  repeated,  in  a 
sort  of  low  growl,  sounds,  if  not  words,  which  bore  some 
slight  resemblance  to  the  melody  of  the  singer. 

The  effect  of  so  strange  an  echo  on  David  may  better  be 
imagined  than  described.     His  eyes  opened  as  if  he  doubted 


324  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

their  truth;  and  his  voice  became  instantly  mute  in  excess 
of  wonder.  A  deep-laid  scheme,  of  communicating  some 
important  intelligence  to  Heyward,  was  driven  from  his 
recollection  by  an  emotion  which  very  nearly  resembled 
fear,  but  which  he  was  fain  to  believe  was  admiration. 
Under  its  influence,  he  exclaimed  aloud — "  She  expects  you, 
and  is  at  hand  " ;  and  precipitately  left  the  cavern. 


CHAPTER   XXV. 


Snug.     Have  you  the  lion's  part  written  ?     Pray  you,  if  it  be,  give  it  me  for  I  am 
slow  of  study. 

Quince.     You  may  do  it  extempore,  for  it  is  nothing  but  roaring. 

Midsummer  Night's  Dream. 

There  was  a  strange  blending  of  the  ridiculous  with  that 
which  was  solemn  in  this  scene.  The  beast  still  continued 
its  rolling  and  apparently  untiring  movements,  though  its 
ludicrous  attempt  to  imitate  the  melody  of  David  ceased  the 
instant  the  latter  abandoned  the  field.  The  words  of  Gamut 
were,  as  has  been  seen,  in  his  native  tongue;  and  to  Duncan 
they  seemed  pregnant  with  some  hidden  meaning,  though 
nothing  present  assisted  him  in  discovering  the  object  of 
their  allusion.  A  speedy  end  was,  however,  put  to  every 
conjecture  on  the  subject,  by  the  manner  of  the  chief,  who 
advanced  to  the  bedside  of  the  invalid,  and  beckoned  away 
the  whole  group  of  female  attendants  that  had  clustered 
there  to  witness  the  skill  of  the  stranger.  He  was  impli- 
citly, though  reluctantly,  obeyed ;  and  when  the  low  echo 
which  rang  along  the  hollow,  natural  gallery,  from  the  dis- 
tant closing  door,  had  ceased,  pointing  toward  his  insensible 
daughter,  he  said— 

"  Now  let  my  brother  show  his  power." 

Thus  unequivocally  called  on  to  exercise  the  functions  of 
his  assumed  character,  Heyward  was  apprehensive  that  the 


'THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  325 

smallest  delay  might  prove  dangerous.  Endeavoring  then 
to  collect  his  ideas,  he  prepared  to  perform  that  species  of 
incantation,  and  those  uncouth  rites  under  which  the  Indian 
conjurors  are  accustomed  to  conceal  their  ignorance  and  im- 
potency.  It  is  more  than  probable  that,  in  the  disordered 
state  of  his  thoughts,  he  would  soon  have  fallen  into  some 
suspicious,  if  not  fatal  error,  had  not  his  incipient  attempts 
been  interrupted  by  a  fierce  growl  from  the  quadruped. 
Three  several  times  did  he  renew  his  efforts  to  proceed,  and 
as  often  was  he  met  by  the  same  unaccountable  opposition, 
each  interruption  seeming  more  savage  and  threatening  than 
the  preceding. 

"The  cunning  ones  are  jealous,"  said  the  Huron;  "I  go. 
Brother,  the  woman  is  the  wife  of  one  of  my  bravest  young 
men;  deal  justly  by  her.  Peace,"  he  added,  beckoning  to 
the  discontented  beast  to  be  quiet;  "I  go." 

The  chief  was  as  good  as  his  word,  and  Duncan  now 
found  himself  alone  in  that  wild  and  desolate  abode,  with 
the  helpless  invalid,  and  the  fierce  and  dangerous  brute. 
The  latter  listened  to  the  movements  of  the  Indian  with 
that  air  of  sagacity  that  a  bear  is  known  to  possess,  until 
another  echo  announced  that  he  had  also  left  the  cavern, 
when  it  turned  and  came  waddling  up  to  Duncan,  before 
whom  it  seated  itself,  in  its  natural  attitude,  erect  like  a 
man.  The  youth  looked  anxiously  about  him  for  some 
weapon,  with  which  he  might  make  a  resistance  against  the 
attack  he  now  seriously  expected. 

It  seemed,  however,  as  if  the  humor  of  the  animal  had 
suddenly  changed.  Instead  of  continuing  its  discontented 
growls,  or  manifesting  any  further  signs  of  anger,  the  whole 
of  its  shaggy  body  shook  violently,  as  if  agitated  by  some 
strange  internal  convulsion.  The  huge  and  unwieldy  talons 
pawed  stupidly  about  the  grinning  muzzle,  and  while  Hey- 
ward  kept  his  eyes  riveted  on  its  movements  with  jealous 
watchfulness,  the  grim  head  fell  on  one  side,  and  its  place 
appeared  the  honest,  sturdy  countenance  of  the  scout,  who 


326  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS.' 

was  indulging,  from  the  bottom  of  his  soul,  in  his  own  pe- 
culiar expression  of  merriment. 

"  Hist!  "  said  the  wary  woodsman,  interrupting  Heyward's 
exclamation  of  surprise;  "the  varlets  are  about  the  place, 
and  any  sounds  that  are  not  natural  to  witchcraft  would 
bring  them  back  upon  us  in  a  body." 

"Tell  me  the  meaning  of  this  masquerade;  and  why  you 
have  attempted  so  desperate  an  adventure?  " 

"Ah!  reason  and  calculation  are  often  outdone  by  acci- 
dent," returned  the  scout.  "  But  as  a  story  should  always 
commence  at  the  beginning,  I  will  tell  you  the  whole  in 
order.  After  we  parted  I  placed  the  commandant  and  the 
Sagamore  in  an  old  beaver  lodge,  where  they  are  safer  from 
the  Hurons  than  they  would  be  in  the  garrison  of  Edward; 
for  your  high  north-west  Indians,  not  having  as  yet  got  the 
traders  among  them,  continue  to  venerate  the  beaver.  After 
which  Uncas  and  I  pushed  for  the  other  encampment,  as 
was  agreed;  have  you  seen  the  lad?  " 

"  To  my  great  grief ! — he  is  captive,  and  condemned  to 
die  at  the  rising  of  the  sun." 

"  I  had  misgivings  that  such  would  be  his  fate,"  resumed 
the  scout,  in  a  less  confident  and  joyous  tone.  But  soon 
regaining  his  naturally  firm  voice,  he  continued — "  His  bad 
fortune  is  the  true  reason  of  my  being  here,  for  it  would 
never  do  to  abandon  such  a  boy  to  the  Hurons.  A  rare 
time  the  knaves  would  have  of  it,  could  they  tie  '  The  bound- 
ing Elk'  and  '  The  long  Carabine,'  as  they  call  me,  to  the 
same  stake!  Though  why  they  have  given  me  such  a  name 
I  never  knew,  there  being  as  little  likeness  between  the 
gifts  of  '  Kill-deer '  and  the  performance  of  one  of  your  real 
Canada  carabynes,  as  there  is  between  the  natur'  of  a  pipe- 
stone  and  a  flint!  " 

"  Keep  to  your  tale,"  said  the  impatient  Heyward;  "we 
know  not  at  what  moment  the  Hurons  may  return." 

"  No  fear  of  them.  A  conjuror  must  have  his  time,  like 
a  straggling  priest  in  the  settlements.     We  are  as  safe  from 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  327 

interruption  as  a  missionary  would  be  at  the  beginning  of 
a  two  hours'  discourse.  Well,  Uncas  and  I  fell  in  with  a 
return  party  of  the  varlets ;  the  lad  was  much  too  forward 
for  a  scout;  nay,  for  that  matter,  being  of  hot  blood,  he  was 
not  so  much  to  blame;  and,  after  all,  one  of  the  Hurons 
proved  a  coward,  and  in  fleeing  led  him  into  an  ambush- 
ment." 

"And  dearly  has  he  paid  for  the  weakness!  " 

The  scout  significantly  passed  his  hand  across  his  own 
throat,  and  nodded,  as  if  he  said,  "  I  comprehend  your 
meaning."  After  which  he  continued,  in  a  more  audible 
though  scarcely  more  intelligible  language — 

"  After  the  loss  of  the  boy  I  turned  upon  the  Hurons,  as 
you  may  judge.  There  have  been  scrimmages  atween  one 
or  two  of  their  outlyers  and  myself;  but  that  is  neither  here 
nor  there.  So,  after  I  had  shot  the  imps,  I  got  in  pretty 
nigh  to  the  lodges  without  further  commotion.  Then  what 
should  luck  do  in  my  favor,  but  lead  me  to  the  very  spot 
where  one  of  the  most  famous  conjurors  of  the  tribe  was 
dressing  himself,  as  I  well  knew,  for  some  great  battle  with 
Satan — though  why  should  I  call  that  luck,  which  it  now 
seems  was  an  especial  ordering  of  Providence.  So  a  judg- 
matical rap  over  the  head  stiffened  the  lying  impostor  for  a 
time,  and  leaving  him  a  bit  of  walnut  for  his  supper,  to  pre- 
vent an  uproar,  and  stringing  him  up  atween  two  saplings,  I 
made  free  with  his  finery,  and  took  the  part  of  the  bear  on 
myself,  in  order  that  the  operations  might  proceed." 

"And  admirably  did  you  enact  the  character;  the  animal 
itself  might  have  been  shamed  by  the  representation." 

"  Lord,  major,"  returned  the  flattered  woodsman,  "  I 
should  be  but  a  poor  scholar  for  one  who  has  studied  so 
long  in  the  wilderness,  did  I  not  know  how  to  set  forth  the 
movements  and  natur'  of  such  a  beast.  Had  it  been  now  a 
catamount  or  even  a  full-si2ed  panther  I  would  have  embel- 
lished a  performance  for  you  worth  regarding.  But  it  is  no 
such  marvellous  feat  to  exhibit  the  feats  of  so  dull  a  beast; 


328  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

though,  for  that  matter,  too,  a  bear  may  be  over-acted.  Yes, 
yes;  it  is  not  every  imitator  that  knows  natur'  may  be  out- 
done easier  than  she  is  equalled.  But  all  our  work  is  yet 
before  us:  where  is  the  gentle  one?  " 

"Heaven  knows;  I  have  examined  every  lodge  in  the 
village,  without  discovering  the  slightest  trace  of  her  pres- 
ence in  the  tribe." 

"  You  heard  what  the  singer  said,  as  he  left  us, — '  She  is 
at  hand,  and  expects  you.'  " 

"I  have  been  compelled  to  believe  he  alluded  to  this 
unhappy  woman." 

"  The  simpleton  was  frightened,  and  blundered  through 
his  message;  but  he  had  a  deeper  meaning.  Here  are  walls 
enough  to  separate  the  whole  settlement.  A  bear  ought  to 
climb;  therefore  will  I  take  a  look  above  them.  There 
may  be  honey-pots  hid  in  these  rocks,  and  I  am  a  beast,  you 
know,  that  has  a  hankering  for  the  sweets. "a 

The  scout  looked  behind  him,  laughing  at  his  own  con- 
ceit, while  he  clambered  up  the  partition,  imitating,  as  he 
went,  the  clumsy  motions  of  the  beast  he  represented;  but 
the  instant  the  summit  was  gained  he  made  a  gesture  for 
silence,  and  slid  down  with  the  utmost  precipitation. 

"  She  is  here,"  he  whispered,  "  and  by  that  door  you  will 
find  her.  I  would  have  spoken  a  word  of  comfort  to  the 
afflicted  soul ;  but  the  sight  of  such  a  monster  might  upset 
her  reason.  Though  for  that  matter,  major,  you  are  none  of 
the  most  inviting  yourself  in  your  paint." 

Duncan,  who  had  already  sprung  eagerly  forward,  drew 
instantly  back  on  hearing  these  discouraging  words. 

"Am  I,  then,  so  very  revolting?  "  he  demanded  with  an 
air  of  chagrin. 

"You  might  not  startle  a  wolf,  or  turn  the  Royal  Ameri- 
cans from  a  charge ;  but  I  have  seen  the  time  when  you  had 
a  better-favored  look;  your  streaked  countenances  are  not 
ill-judged  of  by  the  squaws,  but  young  women  of  white 
blood  give  the  preference  to  their  own  color.     See,"  he 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  329 

added,  pointing  to  a  place  where  the  water  trickled  from  a 
rock,  forming  a  little  crystal  spring  before  it  found  an  issue 
through  the  adjacent  crevices :  "  you  may  easily  get  rid  of 
the  Sagamore's  daub,  and  when  you  come  back  I  will  try 
my  hand  at  a  new  embellishment.  It's  as  common  for  a 
conjuror  to  alter  his  paint  as  for  a  buck  in  the  settlements 
to  change  his  finery." 

The  deliberate  woodsman  had  little  occasion  to  hunt  for 
arguments  to  enforce  his  advice.  He  was  yet  speaking  when 
Duncan  availed  himself  of  the  water.  In  a  moment  every 
frightful  or  offensive  mark  was  obliterated,  and  the  youth 
appeared  again  in  the  lineaments  with  which  he  had  been 
gifted  by  nature.  Thus  prepared  for  an  interview  with  his 
mistress,  he  took  a  hasty  leave  of  his  companion,  and  disap- 
peared through  the  indicated  passage.  The  scout  witnessed 
his  departure  with  complacency,  nodding  his  head  after  him, 
and  muttering  his  good  wishes ;  after  which  he  very  coolly 
set  about  an  examination  of  the  state  of  the  larder,  among 
the  Hurons — the  cavern,  among  other  purposes,  being  used 
as  a  receptacle  for  the  fruits  of  their  hunts. 

Duncan  had  no  other  guide  than  a  distant  glimmering 
light,  which  served,  however,  the  office  of  a  polar  star  to  the 
lover.  By  its  aid  he  was  enabled  to  enter  the  haven  of  his 
hopes,  which  was  merely  another  apartment  of  the  cavern, 
that  had  been  solely  appropriated  to  the  safe-keeping  of  so 
important  a  prisoner  as  a  daughter  of  the  commandant  of 
William  Henry.  It  was  profusely  strewed  with  the  plunder 
of  that  unlucky  fortress.  In  the  midst  of  this  confusion  he 
found  her  he  sought,  pale,  anxious,  and  terrified,  but  lovely. 
David  had  prepared  her  for  such  a  visit. 

"  Duncan !  "  she  exclaimed,  in  a  voice  that  seemed  to 
tremble  at  the  sounds  created  by  itself. 

"Alice!  "  he  answered,  leaping  carelessly  among  trunks, 
boxes,  arms,  and  furniture,  until  he  stood  at  her  side. 

"  I  knew  that  you  would  never  desert  me,"  she  said,  look- 
ing up  with  a  momentary  glow  on  her  otherwise  dejected 


330  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

countenance.  "  But  you  are  alone !  grateful  as  it  is  to  be 
thus  remembered,  I  could  wish  to  think  you  are  not  entirely 
alone." 

Duncan  observing  that  she  trembled  in  a  manner  which 
betrayed  her  inability  to  stand,  gently  induced  her  to  be 
seated  while  he  recounted  those  leading  incidents  which  it 
has  been  our  task  to  record.  Alice  listened  with  breathless 
interest;  and  though  the  young  man  touched  lightly  on  the 
sorrows  of  the  stricken  father,  taking  care,  however,  not  to 
wound  the  self-love  of  his  auditor,  the  tears  ran  as  freely 
down  the  cheeks  of  the  daughter  as  though  she  had  never 
wept  before.  The  soothing  tenderness  of  Duncan,  however, 
soon  quieted  the  first  burst  of  her  emotions,  and  she  then 
heard  him  to  the  close  with  undivided  attention,  if  not  with 
composure. 

"  And  now,  Alice,"  he  added,  "  you  will  see  how  much  is 
still  expected  of  you.  By  the  assistance  of  our  experienced 
and  invaluable  friend,  the  scout,  we  may  find  our  way  from 
this  savage  people,  but  you  will  have  to  exert  your  utmost 
fortitude.  Remember  that  you  fly  to  the  arms  of  your  ven- 
erable parent,  and  how  much  his  happiness,  as  well  as  your 
own,  depends  on  those  exertions." 

"  Can  I  do  otherwise  for  a  father  who  has  done  so  much 
for  me  ?  " 

"  And  for  me  too,"  continued  the  youth,  gently  pressing 
the  hand  he  held  in  both  his  own. 

The  look  of  innocence  and  surprise  which  he  received  in  re- 
turn convinced  Duncan  of  the  necessity  of  being  more  explicit. 

"This  is  neither  the  place  nor  the  occasion  to  detain  you 
with  selfish  wishes,"  he  added;  "but  what  heart  loaded  like 
mine  would  not  wish  to  cast  its  burden?  They  say  misery 
is  the  closest  of  all  ties;  our  common  suffering  in  your  be- 
half left  but  little  to  be  explained  between  your  father  and 
myself." 

"  And  dearest  Cora,  Duncan ;  surely  Cora  was  not  for- 
gotten ?  " 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  331 

"Not  forgotten!  no;  regretted,  as  woman  was  seldom 
mourned  before.  Your  venerable  father  knew  no  difference 
between  his  children ;  but  I — Alice,  you  will  not  be  offended 
when  I  say,  that  to  me  her  worth  was  in  a  degree  ob- 
scured  " 

"  Then  you  knew  not  the  merit  of  my  sister,"  said  Alice, 
withdrawing  her  hand ;  "  of  you  she  ever  speaks  as  of  one 
who  is  her  dearest  friend." 

"I  would  gladly  believe  her  such,"  returned  Duncan 
hastily;  "I  could  wish  her  to  be  even  more;  but  with  you, 
Alice,  I  have  the  permission  of  your  father  to  aspire  to  a 
still  nearer  and  dearer  tie." 

Alice  trembled  violently,  and  there  was  an  instant  during 
which  she  bent  her  face  aside,  yielding  to  the  emotions  com- 
mon to  her  sex;  but  they  quickly  passed  away,  leaving  her 
mistress  of  her  deportment,  if  not  of  her  affections. 

"  Heyward,"  she  said,  looking  him  full  in  the  face  with  a 
touching  expression  of  innocence  and  dependency,  "  give  me 
the  sacred  presence  and  the  holy  sanction  of  that  parent  be- 
fore you  urge  me  further." 

"  Though  more  I  should  not,  less  I  could  not  say,"  the 
youth  was  about  to  answer,  when  he  was  interrupted  by  a 
ught  tap  on  his  shoulder.  Starting  to  his  feet,  he  turned, 
and,  confronting  the  intruder,  his  looks  fell  on  the  dark 
form  and  malignant  visage  of  Magua.  The  deep  guttural 
laugh  of  the  savage  sounded,  at  such  a  moment,  to  Duncan 
like  the  hellish  taunt  of  a  demon.  Had  he  pursued  the 
sudden  and  fierce  impulse  of  the  instant,  he  would  have  cast 
himself  on  the  Huron,  and  committed  their  fortunes  to  the 
issue  of  a  deadly  struggle.  But,  without  arms  of  any  de- 
scription, ignorant  of  what  succor  his  subtle  enemy  could 
command,  and  charged  with  the  safety  of  one  who  was  just 
then  dearer  than  ever  to  his  heart,  he  no  sooner  entertained 
than  he  abandoned  the  desperate  intention. 

"What  is  your  purpose?  "  said  Alice,  meekly  folding  her 
arms  on  her  bosom,  and  struggling  to  conceal  an  agony  of 


332  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

apprehension  in  behalf  of  Heyward,  in  the  usual  cold  and  dis 
tant  manner  with  which  she  received  the  visits  of  her  captor. 

The  exulting  Indian  had  resumed  his  austere  counte- 
nance, though  he  drew  warily  back  before  the  menacing 
glance  of  the  young  man's  fiery  eye.  He  regarded  both  his 
captives  for  a  moment  with  a  steady  look,  and  then  stepping 
aside,  he  dropped  a  log  of  wood  across  a  door  different  from 
that  by  which  Duncan  had  entered.  The  latter  now  com- 
prehended the  manner  of  his  surprise,  and  believing  himself 
irretrievably  lost,  he  drew  Alice  to  his  bosom,  and  stood 
prepared  to  meet  a  fate  which  he  hardly  regretted,  since  it 
was  to  be  suffered  in  such  company.  But  Magua  meditated 
no  immediate  violence.  His  first  measures  were  very  evi- 
dently taken  to  secure  his  new  captive ;  nor  did  he  even 
bestow  a  second  glance  at  the  motionless  forms  in  the  centre 
of  the  cavern,  until  he  had  completely  cut  off  every  hope  of 
retreat  through  the  private  outlet  he  had  himself  used.  He 
was  watched  in  all  his  movements  by  Heyward,  who,  how- 
ever, remained  firm,  still  folding  the  fragile  form  of  Alice 
to  his  heart,  at  once  too  proud  and  too  hopeless  to  ask  favor 
of  an  enemy  so  often  foiled.  When  Magua  had  effected  his 
object  he  approached  his  prisoners,  and  said  in  English — 

"  The  pale-faces  trap  the  cunning  beavers ;  but  the  red- 
skins know  how  to  take  the  Yengeese." 

"  Huron,  do  your  worst !  "  exclaimed  the  excited  Hey- 
ward, forgetful  that  a  double  stake  was  involved  in  his  life; 
"you  and  your  vengeance  are  alike  despised." 

"Will  the  white  man  speak  these  words  at  the  stake?  " 
asked  Magua;  manifesting,  at  the  same  time,  how  little 
faith  he  had  in  the  other's  resolution  by  the  sneer  that  ac- 
companied his  words. 

"Here;  singly  to  your  face,  or  in  the  presence  of  your 
nation." 

"  Le  Renard  subtil  is  a  great  chief!  "  returned  the  Indian; 
"  he  will  go  and  bring  his  young  men,  to  see  how  bravely  a 
pale-face  can  laugh  at  the  tortures." 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  333 

He  turned  away  while  speaking,  and  was  about  to  leave 
the  place  through  the  avenue  by  which  Duncan  had  ap- 
proached, when  a  growl  caught  his  ear,  and  caused  him  to 
hesitate.  The  figure  of  the  bear  appeared  in  the  door,  where 
it  sat,  rolling  from  side  to  side  in  its  customary  restless- 
ness. Magua,  like  the  father  of  the  sick  woman,  eyed  it 
keenly  for  a  moment,  as  if  to  ascertain  its  character.  He 
was  far  above  the  more  vulgar  superstitions  of  his  tribe,  and 
so  soon  as  he  recognized  the  well-known  attire  of  the  con- 
juror, he  prepared  to  pass  it  in  cool  contempt.  But  a 
louder  and  more  threatening  growl  caused  him  again  to 
pause.  Then  he  seemed  as  if  suddenly  resolved  to  trifle 
no  longer,  and  moved  resolutely  forward.  The  mimic  ani- 
mal, which  had  advanced  a  little,  retired  slowly  in  his  front 
until  it  arrived  again  at  the  pass,  when  rearing  on  its  hinder 
legs  it  beat  the  air  with  its  paws,  in  the  manner  practised 
by  its  brutal  prototype. 

"  Fool !  "  exclaimed  the  chief,  in  Huron,  "  go  play  with 
the  children  and  squaws;  leave  men  to  their  wisdom." 

He  once  more  endeavored  to  pass  the  supposed  empiric, 
scorning  even  the  parade  of  threatening  to  use  the  knife,  or 
tomahawk,  that  was  pendent  from  his  belt.  Suddenly  the 
beast  extended  its  arms,  or  rather  legs,  and  inclosed  him  in 
a  grasp  that  might  have  vied  with  the  far-famed  power  of  the 
"bear's  hug"  itself.  Hey  ward  had  watched  the  whole  pro- 
cedure, on  the  part  of  Hawk-eye,  with  breathless  interest. 
At  first  he  relinquished  his  hold  of  Alice;  then  he  caught 
up  a  thong  of  buckskin,  which  had  been  used  around  some 
bundle,  and  when  he  beheld  his  enemy  with  his  two  arms 
pinned  to  his  side  by  the  iron  muscles  of  the  scout,  he 
rushed  upon  him,  and  effectually  secured  them  there.  Arms, 
legs,  and  feet  were  encircled  in  twenty  folds  of  the  thong, 
in  less  time  than  we  have  taken  to  record  the  circumstance. 
When  the  formidable  Huron  was  completely  pinioned,  the 
scout  released  his  hold,  and  Duncan  laid  his  enemy  on  hia 
back,  utterly  helpless. 


334  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

Throughout  the  whole  of  this  sudden  and  extraordinary 
operation,  Magua,  though  he  had  struggled  violently,  until 
assured  he  was  in  the  hands  of  one  whose  nerves  were  far 
better  strung  than  his  own,  had  not  uttered  the  slightest  ex- 
clamation. But  when  Hawk-eye,  by  way  of  making  a  sum- 
mary explanation  of  his  conduct,  removed  the  shaggy  jaws 
of  the  beast,  and  exposed  his  own  rugged  and  earnest  coun- 
tenance to  the  gaze  of  the  Huron,  the  philosophy  of  the  lat- 
ter was  so  far  mastered  as  to  permit  him  to  utter  the  never- 
failing — 

"Hugh!" 

"Ay!  you've  found  your  tongue,"  said  his  undisturbed 
conqueror;  "now,  in  order  that  you  shall  not  use  it  to  our 
ruin,  I  must  make  free  to  stop  your  mouth." 

As  there  was  no  time  to  be  lost,  the  scout  immediately 
set  about  effecting  so  necessary  a  precaution ;  and  when  he 
had  gagged  the  Indian,  his  enemy  might  safely  have  been 
considered  as  "  hors  de  combat." 

"  By  what  place  did  the  imp  enter?  "  asked  the  industri- 
ous scout,  when  his  work  was  ended.  "  Not  a  soul  has 
passed  my  way  since  you  left  me." 

Duncan  pointed  out  the  door  by  which  Magua  had  come, 
and  which  now  presented  too  many  obstacles  to  a  quick  re- 
treat. 

"  Bring  on  the  gentle  one  then,"  continued  his  friend; 
"  we  must  make  a  push  for  the  woods  by  the  other  out- 
let." 

"'Tis  impossible!"  said  Duncan;  "fear  has  overcome 
her,  and  she  is  helpless.  Alice  !  my  sweet,  my  own  Alice, 
arouse  yourself;  now  is  the  moment  to  fly.  'Tis  in  vain! 
she  hears,  but  is  unable  to  folio  ..  Go,  noble  and  worthy 
friend;  save  yourself,  and  leave  me  to  my  fate!  " 

"  Every  trail  has  its  end,  and  every  calamity  'brings  its 
lesson !  "  returned  the  scout.  "  There,  wrap  her  in  them 
Indian  cloths.  Conceal  all  of  her  little  form.  Nay,  that 
foot  has  no  fellow  in  the  wilderness;  it  will  betray  her.    All, 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  335 

every  part.  Now  take  her  in  your  arms,  and  follow.  Leave 
the  rest  to  me." 

Duncan,  as  may  be  gathered  from  the  words  of  his  com- 
panion, was  eagerly  obeying;  and  as  the  other  finished 
speaking,  he  took  the  light  person  of  Alice  in  his  arms,  and 
followed  on  the  footsteps  of  the  scout.  They  found  the 
sick  woman  as  they  had  left  her,  still  alone,  and  passed 
swiftly  on,  by  the  natural  gallery,  to  the  place  of  entrance. 
As  they  approached  the  little  door  of  bark,  a  murmur  of 
voices  without  announced  that  the  friends  and  relatives  of 
the  invalid  were  gathered  about  the  place,  patiently  await- 
ing a  summons  to  re-enter. 

"  If  I  open  my  lips  to  speak,"  Hawk-eye  whispered,  "  my 
English,  which  is  the  genuine  tongue  of  a  white-skin,  will 
tell  the  varlets  that  an  enemy  is  among  them.  You  must 
give  'em  your  jargon,  major;  and  say  that  we  have 
shut  the  evil  spirit  in  the  cave,  and  are  taking  the 
woman  to  the  woods  in  order  to  find  strengthening  roots. 
Practyse  all  your  cunning,  for  it  is  a  lawful  under- 
taking." 

The  door  opened  a  little,  as  if  one  without  was  listening 
to  the  proceedings  within,  and  compelled  the  scout  to  cease 
his  directions.  A  fierce  growl  repelled  the  eavesdropper, 
jind  then  the  scout  boldly  threw  open  the  covering  of  bark, 
and  left  the  place,  enacting  the  character  of  the  bear  as  he 
proceeded.  Duncan  kept  close  at  his  heels,  and  soon  found 
himself  in  the  centre  of  a  cluster  of  twenty  anxious  relatives 
and  friends. 

The  crowd  fell  back  a  little,  and  permitted  the  father, 
and  one  who  appeared  to  be  the  husband  of  the  woman,  to 
approach. 

"  Has  my  brother  driven  away  the  evil  spirit?  "  demanded 
the  former.     "  What  has  he  in  his  arms  ?  " 

"  Thy  child,"  returned  Duncan,  gravely ;  "  the  disease  has 
gone  out  of  her ,  it  is  shut  up  in  the  rocks.  I  take  the  wo- 
man to  a  distance,  where  I  will  strengthen  her  against  any 


33^  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

further  attacks.  She  shall  be  in  the  wigwam  of  the  young 
man  when  the  sun  comes  again." 

When  the  father  had  translated  the  meaning  of  the  stran- 
ger's words  into  the  Huron  language,  a  suppressed  murmur 
announced  the  satisfaction  with  which  this  intelligence  was 
received.  The  chief  himself  waved  his  hand  for  Duncan  to 
proceed,  saying  aloud,  in  a  firm  voice,  and  with  a  lofty 
manner— 

"Go — I  am  a  man,  and  I  will  enter  the  rock  and  fight  the 
wicked  one." 

Heyward  had  gladly  obeyed,  and  was  already  past  the 
little  group,  when  these  startling  words  arrested  him. 

"Is  my  brother  mad!"  he  exclaimed;  "is  he  cruel! 
He  will  meet  the  disease,  and  it  will  enter  him;  or  he  will 
drive  out  the  disease,  and  it  will  chase  his  daughter  into  the 
woods.  No — let  my  children  wait  without,  and  if  the  spirit 
appears  beat  him  down  with  clubs.  He  is  cunning,  and  will 
bury  himself  in  the  mountain,  when  he  sees  how  many  are 
ready  to  fight  him." 

This  singular  warning  had  the  desired  effect.  Instead  of 
entering  the  cavern  the  father  and  husband  drew  their  toma- 
hawks, and  posted  themselves  in  readiness  to  deal  their  ven- 
geance on  the  imaginary  tormentor  of  their  sick  relative, 
while  the  women  and  children  broke  branches  from  the 
bushes,  or  seized  fragments  of  the  rock,  with  a  similar  in- 
tention. At  this  favorable  moment  the  counterfeit  conju- 
rors disappeared. 

Hawk-eye,  at  the  same  time  that  he  had  presumed  so  far 
on  the  nature  of  the  Indian  superstitions,  was  not  ignorant 
that  they  were  rather  tolerated  than  relied  on  by  the  wisest 
of  the  chiefs.  He  well  knew  the  value  of  time  in  the  pres- 
ent emergency.  Whatever  might  be  the  extent  of  the  self- 
delusion  of  his  enemies,  and  however  it  had  tended  to  assist 
his  schemes,  the  slightest  cause  of  suspicion,  acting  on  the 
subtle  nature  of  an  Indian,  would  be  likely  to  prove  fatal. 
Taking  the  path,  therefore,  that  was  most  likely  to  avoid 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  337 

observation,  he  rather  skirted  than  entered  the  village. 
The  warriors  were  still  to  be  seen  in  the  distance,  by  the 
fading  light  of  the  fires,  stalking  from  lodge  to  lodge.  But 
the  children  had  abandoned  their  sports  for  their  beds  of 
skins,  and  the  quiet  of  night  was  already  beginning  to  pre- 
vail over  the  turbulence  and  excitement  of  so  busy  and  im- 
portant an  evening. 

Alice  revived  under  the  renovating  influence  of  the  open 
air,  and  as  her  physical  rather  than  her  mental  powers  had 
been  the  subject  of  weakness,  she  stood  in  no  need  of  any 
explanation  of  that  which  had  occurred. 

"Now  let  me  make  an  effort  to  walk,"  she  said,  when 
they  had  entered  the  forest,  blushing,  though  unseen,  that 
she  had  not  been  sooner  able  to  quit  the  arms  of  Duncan; 
"  I  am  indeed  restored." 

"  Nay,  Alice,  you  are  yet  too  weak." 

The  maiden  struggled  gently  to  release  herself,  and  Hey- 
ward  was  compelled  to  part  with  his  precious  burden.  The 
representative  of  the  bear  had  certainly  been  an  entire 
stranger  to  the  delicious  emotion  of  the  lover  while  his 
arms  encircled  his  mistress;  and  he  was,  perhaps,  a  stran- 
ger also  to  the  nature  of  that  feeling  of  ingenuous  shame 
that  oppressed  the  trembling  Alice.  But  when  he  found 
himself  at  a  suitable  distance  from  the  lodges  he  made  a 
halt,  and  spoke  on  a  subject  of  which  he  was  thoroughly  the 
master. 

"This  path  will  lead  you  to  the  brook,"  he  said;  "fol- 
low its  northern  bank  until  you  come  to  a  fall;  mount  the 
hill  on  your  right,  and  you  will  see  the  fires  of  the  other 
people.  There  you  must  go,  and  demand  protection ;  if  they 
are  true  Delawares,  you  will  be  safe.  A  distant  flight  with 
that  gentle  one,  just  now,  is  impossible.  The  Hurons  would 
follow  up  our  trail,  and  master  our  scalps,  before  we  had  got 
a  dozen  miles.     Go,  and  Providence  be  with  you." 

"And  you!"  demanded  Heyward,  in  surprise;    "surely 
we  part  not  here  ?  " 
22 


338  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

"The  Hurons  hold  the  pride  of  the  Delawares;  the  last 
of  the  high  blood  of  the  Mohicans  is  in  their  power,"  re- 
turned the  scout;  "I  go  to  see  what  can  be  done  in  his  fa- 
vor. Had  they  mastered  your  scalp,  major,  a  knave  should 
have  fallen  for  every  hair  it  held,  as  I  promised;  but  if  the 
young  Sagamore  is  to  be  led  to  the  stake,  the  Indians  shall 
see  also  how  a  man  without  a  cross  can  die." 

Not  in  the  least  offended  with  the  decided  preference  that 
the  sturdy  woodsman  gave  to  one  who  might,  in  some  de- 
gree, be  called  the  child  of  his  adoption,  Duncan  still  con- 
tinued to  urge  such  reasons  against  so  desperate  an  effort  as 
presented  themselves.  He  was  aided  by  Alice,  who  mingled 
her  entreaties  with  those  of  Heyward  that  he  would  abandon 
a  resolution  that  promised  so  much  danger,  with  so  little 
hope  of  success.  Their  eloquence  and  ingenuity  were  ex- 
pended in  vain.  The  scout  heard  them  attentively,  but  im- 
patiently, and  finally  closed  the  discussion,  by  answering, 
in  a  tone  that  instantly  silenced  Alice,  while  it  told  Hey- 
ward how  fruitless  any  further  remonstrances  would  be. 

"  I  have  heard,"  he  said,  "  that  there  is  a  feeling  in  youth 
which  binds  man  to  woman  closer  than  the  father  is  tied  to 
the  son.  It  may  be  so.  I  have  seldom  been  where  women 
of  my  color  dwell;  but  such  may  be  the  gifts  of  nature  in 
the  settlements.  You  have  risked  life,  and  all  that  is  dear 
to  you,  to  bring  off  this  gentle  one,  and  I  suppose  that  some 
such  disposition  is  at  the  bottom  of  it  all.  As  for  me,  I 
taught  the  lad  the  real  character  of  a  rifle ;  and  well  has  he 
paid  me  for  it.  I  have  fou't  at  his  side  in  many  a  bloody 
skrimmage;  and  so  long  as  I  could  hear  the  crack  of  his 
piece  in  one  ear,  and  that  of  the  Sagamore  in  the  other,  I 
knew  no  enemy  was  on  my  back.  Winters  and  summers, 
nights  and,  days,  have  we  roved  the  wilderness  in  company, 
eating  of  the  same  dish,  one  sleeping  while  the  other 
watched;  and  afore  it  shall  be  said  thatUncas  was  taken  to 

the  torment,  and  I  at  hand There  is  but  a  single  ruler 

of  us  all,  whatever  may  be  the  color  of  the  skin;  and  him  I 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  339 

call  to  witness — that  before  the  Mohican  boy  shall  perish 
for  the  want  of  a  friend,  good  faith  shall  depart  the  'arth, 
and'  Kill-deer'  becomes  as  harmless  as  the  tooting  we'pon 
of  the  singer !  " 

Duncan  released  his  hold  on  the  arm  of  the  scout,  who 
turned,  and  steadily  retraced  his  steps  toward  the  lodges. 
After  pausing  a  moment  to  gaze  at  his  retiring  form,  the 
successful  and  yet  sorrowful  Heyward,  and  Alice,  took  their 
way  together  toward  the  distant  village  of  the  Delawares. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


Bot.   Let  me  play  the  lion  too. 

Midsummer  Night's  Dream. 

Notwithstanding  the  high  resolution  of  Hawk-eye,  he  fully 
comprehended  all  the  difficulties  and  dangers  he  was  about 
to  incur.  In  his  return  to  the  camp,  his  acute  and  practised 
intellects  were  intently  engaged  in  devising  means  to  coun- 
teract a  watchfulness  and  suspicion  on  the  part  of  his  ene- 
mies, that  he  knew  were,  in  no  degree,  inferior  to  his  own. 
Nothing  but  the  color  of  his  skin  had  saved  the  lives  of 
Magua  and  the  conjuror,  who  would  have  been  the  first  vic- 
tims sacrificed  to  his  own  security,  had  not  the  scout  believed 
such  an  act,  however  congenial  it  might  be  to  the  nature  of 
an  Indian,  utterly  unworthy  of  one  who  boasted  a  descent 
from  men  that  knew  no  cross  of  blood.  Accordingly,  he 
trusted  to  the  withes  and  ligaments  with  which  he  had 
bound  his  captives,  and  pursued  his  way  directly  toward  the 
centre  of  the  lodges. 

As  he  approached  the  buildings,  his  steps  became  more 
deliberate,  and  his  vigilant  eye  suffered  no  sign,  whether 
friendly  or  hostile,  to  escape  him.  A  neglected  hut  was  a  lit- 
tle in  advance  of  the  others,  and  appeared  as  if  it  had  been 
deserted  when  half  completed — most  probably  on  account  of 


340         THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

failing  in  some  of  the  more  important  requisites;  such  as 
wood  or  water.  A  faint  light  glimmered  through  its  cracks, 
however,  and  announced  that,  notwithstanding  its  imperfect 
structure,  it  was  not  without  a  tenant.  Thither,  then,  the 
scout  proceeded,  like  a  prudent  general,  who  was  about  to 
feel  the  advanced  positions  of  his  enemy,  before  he  haz- 
arded the  main  attack. 

Throwing  himself  into  a  suitable  posture  for  the  beast  he 
represented,  Hawk-eye  crawled  to  a  little  opening,  where  he 
might  command  a  view  of  the  interior.  It  proved  to  be  the 
abiding-place  of  David  Gamut.  Hither  the  faithful  singing- 
master  had  now  brought  himself,  together  with  all  his  sor- 
rows, his  apprehensions,  and  his  meek  dependence  on  the 
protection  of  Providence.  At  the  precise  moment  when  his 
ungainly  person  came  under  the  observation  of  the  scout,  in 
the  manner  just  mentioned,  the  woodsman  himself,  though 
in  his  assumed  character,  was  the  subject  of  the  solitary 
being's  profoundest  reflections. 

However  implicit  the  faith  of  David  was  in  the  perform- 
ance of  ancient  miracles,  he  eschewed  the  belief  of  any  direct 
supernatural  agency  in  the  management  of  modern  morality. 
In  other  words,  while  he  had  implicit  faith  in  the  ability  of 
Balaam's  ass  to  speak,  he  was  somewhat  sceptical  on  the 
subject  of  a  bear's  singing;  and  yet  he  had  been  assured  of 
the  latter,  on  the  testimony  of  his  own  exquisite  organs. 
There  was  something  in  his  air  and  manner  that  betrayed 
to  the  scout  the  utter  confusion  of  the  state  of  his  mind. 
He  was  seated  on  a  pile  of  brush,  a  few  twigs  from  which 
occasionally  fed  his  low  fire,  with  his  head  leaning  on  his 
arm,  in  a  posture  of  melancholy  musing.  The  costume  of 
the  votary  of  music  had  undergone  no  other  alteration  from 
that  so  lately  described,  except  that  he  had  covered  his  bald 
head  with  the  triangular  beaver,  which  had  not  proved  suffi- 
ciently alluring  to  excite  the  cupidity  of  any  of  his  captors. 

The  ingenious  Hawk-eye,  who  recalled  the  hasty  manner 
in  which  the  other  had  abandoned  his  post  at  the  bedside  of 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  34 1 

the  sick  woman,  was  not  without  his  suspicions  concerning 
the  subject  of  so  much  solemn  deliberation.  First  making 
the  circuit  of  the  hut,  and  ascertaining  that  it  stood  quite 
alone,  and  that  the  character  of  its  inmate  was  likely  to  pro- 
tect it  from  visitors,  he  ventured  through  its  low  door  into 
the  very  presence  of  Gamut.  The  position  of  the  latter 
brought  the  fire  between  them ;  and  when  Hawk-eye  had 
seated  himself  on  end,  near  a  minute  elapsed,  during  which 
the  two  remained  regarding  each  other  without  speaking. 
The  suddenness  and  the  nature  of  the  surprise  had  nearly 
proved  too  much  for — we  will  not  say  the  philosophy — but 
for  the  faith  and  resolution  of  David.  He  fumbled  for  his 
pitch-pipe,  and  arose  with  a  confused  intention  of  attempt- 
ing a  musical  exorcism. 

"Dark  and  mysterious  monster!"  he  exclaimed,  while 
with  trembling  hands  he  disposed  of  his  auxiliary  eyes,  and 
sought  his  never-failing  resource  in  trouble,  the  gifted  ver- 
sion of  the  Psalms;  "I  know  not  your  nature  nor  intents; 
but  if  aught  you  meditate  against  the  person  and  rights  of 
one  of  the  humblest  servants  of  the  temple,  listen  to  the  in- 
spired language  of  the  youth  of  Israel,  and  repent." 

The  bear  shook  his  shaggy  sides,  and  then  a  well-known 
voice  replied — 

"  Put  up  the  tooting  we'pon,  and  teach  your  throat  mod- 
esty. Five  words  of  plain  and  comprehendible  English  are 
worth,  just  now,  an  hour  of  squalling." 

"  What  art  thou  ?  "  demanded  David,  utterly  disqualified  to 
pursue  his  original  intention,  and  nearly  gasping  for  breath. 

"A  man  like  yourself;  and  one  whose  blood  is  as  little 
tainted  by  the  cross  of  a  bear,  or  an  Indian,  as  your  own. 
Have  you  so  soon  forgotten  from  whom  you  received  the 
foolish  instrument  you  hold  in  your  hand?  " 

"Can  these  things  be?  "  returned  David,  breathing  more 
freely,  as  the  truth  began  to  dawn  upon  him.  "  I  have 
found  many  marvels  during  my  sojourn  with  the  heathen, 
but  surely  nothing  to  excel  this!  " 


342  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

"  Come,  come,"  returned  Hawk-eye,  uncasing  his  honest 
countenance,  the  better  to  assure  the  wavering  confidence  of 
his  companion;  "you  may  see  a  skin,  which,  if  it  be  not  as 
white  as  one  of  the  gentle  ones,  has  no  tinge  of  red  to  it  that 
the  winds  of  the  heaven  and  the  sun  have  not  bestowed. 
Now  let  us  to  business." 

"  First"  tell  me  of  the  maiden,  and  of  the  youth  who  so 
bravely  sought  her,''"  interrupted  David. 

"  Ay,  they  are  happily  freed  from  the  tomahawks  of  these 
varlets.     But  can  you  put  me  on  the  scent  of  Uncas?  " 

"The  young  man  is  in  bondage,  and  much  I  fear  his 
death  is  decreed.  I  greatly  mourn  that  one  so  well  dis- 
posed should  die  in  his  ignorance,  and  I  have  sought  a  goodly 
hymn " 

"  Can  you  lead  me  to  him?  " 

"The  task  will  not  be  difficult,"  returned  David,  hesi- 
tating, "though  I  greatly  fear  your  presence  would  rather 
increase  than  mitigate  his  unhappy  fortunes." 

"  No  more  words,  but  lead  on,"  returned  Hawk-eye,  con- 
cealing his  face  again,  and  setting  the  example  in  his  own 
person,  by  instantly  quitting  the  lodge. 

As  they  proceeded,  the  scout  ascertained  that  his  com- 
panion found  access  to  Uncas,  under  privilege  of  his  im- 
aginary infirmity,  aided  by  the  favor  he  had  acquired  with 
one  of  the  guards,  who,  in  consequence  of  speaking  a  little 
English,  had  been  selected  by  David  as  the  subject  of  a  re- 
ligious conversion.  How  far  the  Huron  comprehended  the 
intentions  of  his  new  friend,  may  well  be  doubted;  but  as 
exclusive  attention  is  as  flattering  to  a  savage  as  to  a  more 
civilized  individual,  it  had  produced  the  effect  we  have 
mentioned.  It  is  unnecessary  to  repeat  the  shrewd  manner 
with  which  the  scout  extracted  these  particulars  from  the 
simple  David;  neither  shall  we  dwell  in  this  place  on  the 
nature  of  the  instructions  he  delivered,  when  completely 
master  of  all  the  necessary  facts;  as  the  whole  will  be  suffi- 
ciently explained  to  the  reader  in  the  course  of  the  narrative. 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  343 

The  lodge  in  which  Uncas  was  confined  was  in  the  very 
centre  of  the  village,  and  in  a  situation,  perhaps,  more  diffi 
cult  than  any  other  to  approach,  or  leave,  without  observa- 
tion. But  it  was  not  the  policy  of  Hawk-eye  to  affect  the 
least  concealment.  Presuming  on  his  disguise,  and  his 
ability  to  sustain  the  character  he  had  assumed,  he  took  the 
most  plain  and  direct  route  to  the  place.  The  hour,  how- 
ever, afforded  him  some  little  of  that  protection  which  he 
appeared  so  much  to  despise.  The  boys  were  already  buried 
in  sleep,  and  all  the  women,  and  most  of  the  warriors,  had 
retired  to  their  lodges  for  the  night.  Four  or  five  of  the 
latter  only  lingered  about  the  door  of  the  prison  of  Uncas, 
wary  but  close  observers  of  the  manner  of  their  captive. 

At  the  sight  of  Gamut,  accompanied  by  one  in  the  well- 
known  masquerade  of  their  most  distinguished  conjuror, 
they  readily  made  way  for  them  both.  Still  they  betrayed 
no  intention  to  depart.  On  the  other  hand,  they  were  evi- 
dently disposed  to  remain  bound  to  the  place  by  an  addi- 
tional interest  in  the  mysterious  mummeries  that  they  of 
course  expected  from  such  a  visit. 

From  the  total  inability  of  the  scout  to  address  the  Hu- 
rons  in  their  own  language,  he  was  compelled  to  trust  the 
conversation  entirely  to  David.  Notwithstanding  the  sim- 
plicity of  the  latter,  he  did  ample  justice  to  the  instructions 
he  had  received,  more  than  fulfilling  the  strongest  hopes  of 
his  teacher. 

"  The  Delawares  are  women !  "  he  exclaimed,  addressing 
himself  to  the  savage  who  had  a  slight  understanding  of  the 
language  in  which  he  spoke;  "the  Yengeese,  my  foolish 
countrymen,  have  told  them  to  take  up  the  tomahawk,  and 
strike  their  fathers  in  the  Canadas,  and  they  have  forgotten 
their  sex.  Does  my  brother  wish  to  hear  '  Le  Cerf  agile '  ask 
for  his  petticoats,  and  see  him  weep  before  the  Hurons,  at 
the  stake  ?  " 

The  exclamation  "  hugh !  "  delivered  in  a  strong  tone  of 
assent,  announced  the  gratification  the  savage  would  receive 


344  THE    LAST   OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

in  witnessing  such  an  exhibition  of  weakness  in  an  enemy 
so  long  hated  and  so  much  feared. 

"Then  let  him  step  aside,  and  the  cunning  man  will  blow 
upon  the  dog!     Tell  it  to  my  brothers." 

The  Huron  explained  the  meaning  of  David  to  his  fel- 
lows, who,  in  their  turn,  listened  to  the  project  with  that 
sort  of  satisfaction  that  their  untamed  spirits  might  be  ex- 
pected to  find  in  such  a  refinement  in  cruelty.  They  drew 
back  a  little  from  the  entrance,  and  motioned  to  the  sup- 
posed conjuror  to  enter.  But  the  bear,  instead  of  obeying, 
maintained  the  seat  it  had  taken,  and  growled. 

"The  cunning  man  is  afraid  that  his  breath  will  blow 
upon  his  brothers,  and  take  away  their  courage  too,"  con- 
tinued David,  improving  the  hint  he  received;  "they  must 
stand  further  off." 

The  Hurons,  who  would  have  deemed  such  a  misfortune 
the  heaviest  calamity  that  could  befall  them,  fell  back  in  a 
body,  taking  a  position  where  they  were  out  of  earshot, 
though  at  the  same  time  they  could  command  a  view  of  the 
entrance  to  the  lodge.  Then,  as  if  satisfied  of  their  safety, 
the  scout  left  his  position,  and  slowly  entered  the  place. 
It  was  silent  and  gloomy,  being  tenanted  solely  by  the  cap- 
tive, and  lighted  by  the  dying  embers  of  a  fire,  which  had 
been  used  for  the  purposes  of  cookery. 

Uncas  occupied  a  distant  corner,  in  a  reclining  attitude, 
being  rigidly  bound,  both  hands  and  feet,  by  strong  and 
painful  withes.  When  the  frightful  object  first  presented 
itself  to  the  young  Mohican,  he  did  not  deign  to  bestow  a 
single  glance  on  the  animal.  The  scout,  who  had  left  Da- 
vid at  the  door,  to  ascertain  they  were  not  observed,  thought 
it  prudent  to  preserve  his  disguise  until  assured  of  their 
privacy.  Instead  of  speaking,  therefore,  he  exerted  himself 
to  enact  one  of  the  antics  of  the  animal  he  represented. 
The  young  Mohican,  who  at  first  believed  his  enemies  had 
sent  in  a  real  beast  to  torment  him,  and  try  his  nerves,  de- 
tected, in  those  performances  that  to  Hey  ward  had  appeared 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  345 

so  accurate,  certain  blemishes,  that  at  once  betrayed  the 
counterfeit.  Had  Hawk-eye  been  aware  of  the  low  estima- 
tion in  which  the  more  skilful  Uncas  held  his  representa- 
tions, he  would  probably  have  prolonged  the  entertainment 
a  little  in  pique.  But  the  scornful  expression  of  the  young 
man's  eye  admitted  of  so  many  constructions,  that  the  worthy 
scout  was  spared  the  mortification  of  such  a  discovery.  As 
soon,  therefore,  as  David  gave  the  preconcerted  signal,  a 
low  hissing  sound  was  heard  in  the  lodge,  in  place  of  the 
fierce  growl ings  of  the  bear. 

Uncas  had  cast  his  body  back  against  the  wall  of  the 
hut,  and  closed  his  eyes,  as  if  willing  to  exclude  so  con- 
temptible and  disagreeable  an  object  from  his  sight.  But 
the  moment  the  noise  of  the  serpent  was  heard,  he  arose, 
and  cast  his  looks  on  each  side  of  him,  bending  his  head 
low,  and  turning  it  inquiringly  in  every  direction,  until  his 
keen  eye  rested  on  the  shaggy  monster,  where  it  remained 
riveted,  as  though  fixed  by  the  power  of  a  charm.  Again 
the  same  sounds  were  repeated,  evidently  proceeding  from 
the  mouth  of  the  beast.  Once  more  the  eyes  of  the  youth 
roamed  over  the  interior  of  the  lodge,  and  returning  to  their 
former  resting-place,  he  uttered,  in  a  deep,  suppressed 
voice — 

"Hawk-eye!" 

"  Cut  his  bands,"  said  Hawk-eye  to  David,  who  just  then 
approached  them. 

The  singer  did  as  he  was  ordered,  and  Uncas  found  his 
limbs  released.  At  the  same  moment  the  dried  skin  of  the 
animal  rattled,  and  presently  the  scout  arose  to  his  feet,  in 
proper  person.  The  Mohican  appeared  to  comprehend  the 
nature  of  the  attempt  his  friend  had  made,  intuitively; 
neither  tongue  nor  feature  betraying  another  symptom  of 
surprise.  When  Hawk-eye  had  cast  his  shaggy  vestment, 
which  was  done  by  simply  loosing  certain  thongs  of  skin, 
he  drew  a  long  glittering  knife,  and  put  it  in  the  hands  of 
Uncas. 


346  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

"The  red  Hurons  are  without,"  he  said;  "let  us  be 
ready." 

At  the  same  time  he  laid  his  finger  significantly  on  anoth- 
er similar  weapon,  both  being  the  fruits  of  his  prowess 
among  their  enemies  during  the  evening. 

"  We  will  go,"  said  Uncas. 

"Whither?" 

"To  the  Tortoises;  they  are  the  children  of  my  grand- 
fathers." 

"Ay,  lad,"  said  the  scoutin  English — a  language  he  was 
apt  to  use  when  a  little  abstracted  in  mind;  "the  same 
blood  runs  in  your  veins,  I  believe;  but  time  and  distance 
has  a  little  changed  its  color.  What  shall  we  do  with  the 
Mingoes  at  the  door?  They  count  six,  and  this  singer  is 
as  good  as  nothing." 

"  The  Hurons  are  boasters,"  said  Uncas  scornfully ;  "  their 
'  totem '  is  a  moose,  and  they  run  like  snails.  The  Dela- 
wares  are  children  of  the  tortoise,  and  they  outstrip  the  deer." 

"  Ay,  lad,  there  is  truth  in  what  you  say;  and  I  doubt  not, 
on  a  rush,  you  would  pass  the  whole  nation ;  and,  in  a 
straight  race  of  two  miles,  would  be  in,  and  get  your  breath 
again,  afore  a  knave  of  them  all  was  within  hearing  of  the 
other  village.  But  the  gift  of  a  white  man  lies  more  in  his 
arms  than  in  his  legs.  As  for  myself,  I  can  brain  a  Huron 
as  well  as  a  better  man ;  but  when  it  comes  to  a  race,  the 
knaves  would  prove  too  much  for  me." 

Uncas,  who  had  already  approached  the  door,  in  readi- 
ness to  lead  the  way,  now  recoiled;  and  placed  himself, 
once  more,  in  the  bottom  of  the  lodge.  But  Hawk-eye,  who 
was  too  much  occupied  with  his  own  thoughts  to  note  the 
movement,  continued  speaking  more  to  himself  than  to  his 
companion. 

"  After  all,"  he  said,  "  it  is  unreasonable  to  keep  one  man 
in  bondage  to  the  gifts  of  another.  So,  Uncas,  you  had 
better  take  the  leap,  while  I  will  put  on  the  skin  again,  and 
trust  to  cunning  for  want  of  speed." 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  347 

The  young  Mohican  made  no  reply,  but  quietly  folded  his 
arms,  and  leaned  his  body  against  one  of  the  upright  posts 
that  supported  the  wall  of  the  hut. 

"Well,"  said  the  scout,  looking  up  at  him,  "why  do  you 
tarry?  There  will  be  time  enough  for  me,  as  the  knaves 
will  give  chase  to  you  at  first." 

"  Uncas  will  stay,"  was  the  calm  reply. 

"For  what?" 

"  To  fight  with  his  father's  brother,  and  die  with  the  friend 
of  the  Delawares." 

"Ay,  lad,"  returned  Hawk-eye,  squeezing  the  hand  of 
Uncas  between  his  own  iron  fingers ;  "  'twould  have  been 
more  like  a  Mingo  than  a  Mohican  had  you  left  me.  But  I 
thought  I  would  make  the  offer,  seeing  that  youth  commonly 
loves  life.  Well,  what  can't  be  done  by  main  courage  in 
war  must  be  done  by  circumvention.  Put  on  the  skin ;  I 
doubt  not  you  can  play  the  bear  nearly  as  well  as  myself." 

Whatever  might  have  been  the  private  opinion  of  Uncas 
of  their  respective  abilities  in  this  particular,  his  grave 
countenance  manifested  no  opinion  of  his  own  superiority. 
He  silently  and  expeditiously  encased  himself  in  the  cover- 
ing of  the  beast,  and  then  awaited  such  other  movements  as 
his  more  aged  companion  saw  fit  to  dictate. 

"  Now,  friend,"  said  Hawk-eye,  addressing  David,  "  an 
exchange  of  garments  will  be  a  great  convenience  to  you, 
inasmuch  as  you  are  but  little  accustomed  to  the  makeshifts 
of  the  wilderness.  Here,  take  my  hunting-shirt  and  cap, 
and  give  me  your  blanket  and  hat.  You  must  trust  me  with 
the  book  and  spectacles,  as  well  as  the  tooter,  too ;  if  we 
ever  meet  again,  in  better  times,  you  shall  have  all  back 
again,  with  many  thanks  into  the  bargain." 

David  parted  with  the  several  articles  named  with  a  readi- 
ness that  would  have  done  great  credit  to  his  liberality,  had 
he  not  certainly  profited,  in  many  particulars,  by  the  ex- 
change. Hawk-eye  was  not  long  in  assuming  his  borrowed 
garments;  and  when  his  restless  eyes  were  hid  behind  the 


348  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

glasses,  and  his  head  was  surmounted  by  the  triangular 
beaver,  as  their  statures  were  not  dissimilar,  he  might  read- 
ily have  passed  for  the  singer  by  starlight.  As  soon  as 
these  dispositions  were  made,  the  scout  turned  to  David, 
and  gave  him  his  parting  instructions. 

■'Are  you  much  given  to  cowardice?  "  he  bluntly  asked, 
by  way  of  obtaining  a  suitable  understanding  of  the  whole 
case  before  he  ventured  a  prescription. 

"  My  pursuits  are  peaceful,  and  my  temper,  I  humbly 
trust,  is  greatly  given  to  mercy  and  love,"  returned  David, 
a  little  nettled  at  so  direct  an  attack  on  his  manhood;  "but 
there  are  none  who  can  say  that  I  have  ever  forgotten  my 
faith  in  the  Lord,  even  in  the  greatest  straits." 

"Your  chiefest  danger  will  beat  the  moment  when  the 
savages  find  out  that  they  have  been  deceived.  If  you  are 
not  then  knocked  in  the  head,  your  being  a  non-composser 
will  protect  you;  and  you'll  then  have  good  reason  to  expect 
to  die  in  your  bed.  If  you  stay,  it  must  be  to  sit  down  here 
in  the  shadow,  and  take  the  part  of  Uncas,  until  such  times 
as  the  cunning  of  the  Indians  discover  the  cheat,  when,  as  I 
have  already  said,  your  time  of  trial  will  come.  So  choose 
for  yourself, — to  make  a  rush  or  tarry  here." 

"  Even  so,"  said  David,  firmly;  "  I  will  abide  in  the  place 
of  the  Delaware.  Bravely  and  generously  has  he  battled  in 
my  behalf;   and  this,  and  more,  will  I  dare  in  his  service." 

"You  have  spoken  as  a  man,  and  like  one  who,  under 
wiser  schooling,  would  have  been  brought  to  better  things. 
Hold  your  head  down,  and  draw  in  your  legs;  their  forma- 
tion might  tell  the  truth  too  early.  Keep  silent  as  long  as 
may  be;  and  it  would  be  wise,  when  you  do  speak,  to  break 
out  suddenly  in  one  of  your  shoutings,  which  will  serve  to 
remind  the  Indians  that  you  are  not  altogether  as  responsi- 
ble as  men  should  be.  If,  however,  they  take  your  scalp,  as 
I  trust  and  believe  they  will  not,  depend  on  it,  Uncas  and 
I  will  not  forget  the  deed,  but  revenge  it  as  becomes  true 
warriors  and  trusty  friends." 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  349 

"  Hold!  "  said  David,  perceiving  that  with  this  assurance 
they  were  about  to  leave  him ;  "  I  am  an  unworthy  and  hum- 
ble follower  of  one  who  taught  not  the  damnable  principle 
of  revenge.  Should  I  fall,  therefore,  seek  no  victims  to  my 
manes,  but  rather  forgive  my  destroyers;  and  if  you  remem- 
ber them  at  all,  let  it  be  in  prayers  for  the  enlightening  of 
their  minds,  and  for  their  eternal  welfare." 

The  scout  hesitated,  and  appeared  to  muse. 

"There  is  a  principle  in  that,"  he  said,  "different  from 
the  law  of  the  woods;  and  yet  it  is  fair  and  noble  to  reflect 
upon."  Then,  heaving  a  heavy  sigh,  probably  among  the 
last  he  ever  drew  in  pining  for  a  condition  he  had  so  long 
abandoned,  he  added — "  It  is  what  I  would  wish  to  practise 
myself,  as  one  without  a  cross  of  blood,  though  it  is  not 
always  easy  to  deal  with  an  Indian  as  you  would  with  a 
fellow  Christian.  God  bless  you,  friend;  I  do  believe  your 
scent  is  not  greatly  wrong,  when  the  matter  is  duly  consid- 
ered, and  keeping  eternity  before  the  eyes,  though  much  de- 
pends on  the  natural  gifts,  and  the  force  of  temptation." 

So  saying,  the  scout  returned  and  shook  David  cordially 
by  the  hand;  after  which  act  of  friendship  he  immediately 
left  the  lodge,  attended  by  the  new  representative  of  the 
beast. 

The  instant  Hawk-eye  found  himself  under  the  observa- 
tion of  the  Hurons,  he  drew  up  his  tall  form  in  the  rigid 
manner  of  David,  threw  out  his  arm  in  the  act  of  keeping 
time,  and  commenced  what  he  intended  for  an  imitation  of 
his  psalmody.  Happily  for  the  success  of  this  delicate  ad- 
venture, he  had  to  deal  with  ears  but  little  practised  in  the 
concord  of  sweet  sounds,  or  the  miserable  effort  would  infal- 
libly have  been  detected.  It  was  necessary  to  pass  within  a 
dangerous  proximity  of  the  dark  group  of  the  savages,  and 
the  voice  of  the  scout  grew  louder  as  they  drew  nigher. 
When  at  the  nearest  point,  the  Huron  who  spoke  the  English 
thrust  out  an  arm,  and  stopped  the  supposed  singing-master. 

"The;  Delawaix    dog!"    he   said,  leaning  forward,  and 


350         THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

peering  through  the  dim  light  to  catch  the  expression  of  the 
other's  features;  "is  he  afraid?  will  the  Hurons  hear  his 
groans  ?  " 

A  growl  so  exceedingly  fierce  and  natural  proceeded  from 
the  beast,  that  the  young  Indian  released  his  hold  and 
started  aside,  as  if  to  assure  himself  that  it  was  not  a  veri- 
table bear,  and  no  counterfeit,  that  was  rolling  before  him. 
Hawk-eye,  who  feared  his  voice  would  betray  him  to  his 
subtle  enemies,  gladly  profited  by  the  interruption,  to  break 
out  anew  in  such  a  burst  of  musical  expression  as  would, 
probably,  in  a  more  refined  state  of  society  have  been  termed 
"  a  grand  crash."  Among  his  actual  auditors,  however,  it 
merely  gave  him  an  additional  claim  to  that  respect  which 
they  never  withhold  from  such  as  are  believed  to  be  the  sub- 
jects of  mental  alienation.  The  little  knot  of  Indians  drew 
back  in  a  body,  and  suffered,  as  they  thought,  the  conjuror 
and  his  inspired  assistant  to  proceed. 

It  required  no  common  exercise  of  fortitude  in  Uncas 
and  the  scout,  to  continue  the  dignified  and  deliberate  pace 
they  had  assumed  in  passing  the  lodges;  especially  as  they 
immediately  perceived  that  curiosity  had  so  far  mastered 
fear,  as  to  induce  the  watchers  to  approach  the  hut,  in  order 
to  witness  the  effect  of  the  incantations.  The  least  injudi- 
cious or  impatient  movement  on  the  part  of  David  might 
betray  them,  and  time  was  absolutely  necessary  to  insure  the 
safety  of  the  scout.  The  loud  noise  the  latter  conceived  it 
politic  to  continue,  drew  many  curious  gazers  to  the  doors 
of  the  different  huts  as  they  passed;  and  once  or  twice  a 
dark-looking  warrior  stepped  cross  their  path,  led  to  the  act 
by  superstition  or  watchfulness.  They  were  not,  however, 
interrupted;  the  darkness  of  the  hour,  and  the  boldness  of 
the  attempt,  proving  their  principal  friends. 

The  adventurers  had  got  clear  of  the  village,  and  were 
now  swiftly  approaching  the  shelter  of  the  woods,  when  a 
loud  and  long  cry  arose  from  the  lodge  where  Uncas  had 
been  confined.     The  Mohican  started  on  his  feet,  and  shook 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS.  351 

his  shaggy  covering,  as  though  the  animal  he  counterfeited 
was  about  to  make  some  desperate  effort. 

"  Hold !  "  said  the  scout,  grasping  his  friend  by  the  shoul- 
der, "  let  them  yell  again!     'Twas  nothing  but  wonderment." 

He  had  no  occasion  to  delay,  for  at  the  next  instant  a 
burst  of  cries  filled  the  outer  air,  and  ran  along  the  whole  ex- 
tent of  the  village.  Uncas  cast  his  skin,  and  stepped  forth 
in  his  own  beautiful  proportions.  Hawk-eye  tapped  him 
lightly  on  the  shoulder,  and  glided  ahead. 

"  Now  let  the  devils  strike  our  scent!"  said  the  scout, 
tearing  two  rifles,  with  all  their  attendent  accoutrements, 
from  beneath  a  bush,  and  flourishing  "  Kill-deer "  as  he 
handed  Uncas  his  weapon ;  "  two,  at  least,  will  find  it  to 
their  deaths." 

Then  throwing  their  pieces  to  a  low  trail,  like  sportsmen 
in  readiness  for  their  game,  they  dashed  forward,  and  were 
soon  buried  in  the  sombre  darkness  of  the  forest. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


Ant,  I  shall  remember: 

When  Caesar  says,  Do  this,  it  is  performed. 

Julius  C^bsar. 

The  impatience  of  the  savages  who  lingered  about  the  pris- 
on of  Uncas,  as  has  been  seen,  had  overcome  their  dread  of 
the  conjuror's  breath.  They  stole  cautiously,  and  with  beat- 
ing hearts,  to  a  crevice,  through  which  the  faint  light  of  the 
fire  was  glimmering.  For  several  minutes  they  mistook  the 
form  of  David  for  that  of  their  prisoner;  but  the  very  acci- 
dent which  Hawk-eye  had  foreseen  occurred.  Tired  of  keep- 
ing the  extremities  of  his  long  person  so  near  together,  the 
singer  gradually  suffered  the  lower  limbs  to  extend  them- 
selves, until  one  of  his  misshapen  feet  actually  came  in 
contact  with  and  shoved  aside  the  embers  of  the  fire.     At 


352  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

first  the  Hurons  believed  the  Delaware  had  been  thus  de- 
formed by  witchcraft.  But  when  David,  unconscious  of  be- 
ing observed,  turned  his  head,  and  exposed  his  simple,  mild 
countenance,  in  place  of  the  haughty  lineaments  of  their 
prisoner,  it  would  have  exceeded  the  credulity  of  even  a 
native  to  have  doubted  any  longer.  They  rushed  together 
into  the  lodge,  and  laying  their  hands,  with  but  little  cere« 
mony,  on  their  captive,  immediately  detected  the  imposition. 
Then  arose  the  cry  first  heard  by  the  fugitives.  It  was  suc- 
ceeded by  the  most  frantic  and  angry  demonstrations  of 
vengeance.  David,  however  firm  in  his  determination  to 
cover  the  retreat  of  his  friends,  was  compelled  to  believe  that 
his  own  final  hour  had  come.  Deprived  of  his  book  and 
his  pipe,  he  was  fain  to  trust  to  a  memory  that  rarely  failed 
him  on  such  subjects ;  and  breaking  forth  in  a  loud  and  im- 
passioned strain,  he  endeavored  to  smoothe  his  passage  into 
the  other  world,  by  singing  the  opening  verse  of  a  funeral 
anthem.  The  Indians  were  seasonably  reminded  of  his  in- 
firmity, and  rushing  into  the  open  air,  they  aroused  the  vil- 
lage in  the  manner  described. 

A  native  warrior  fights  as  he  sleeps,  without  the  protec- 
tion of  anything  defensive.  The  sounds  of  the  alarm  were, 
therefore,  hardly  uttered,  before  two  hundred  men  were 
afoot,  and  ready  for  the  battle  or  the  chase,  as  either  might 
be  required.  The  escape  was  soon  known ;  and  the  whole 
tribe  crowded,  in  a  body,  around  the  council  lodge,  impa- 
tiently awaiting  the  instruction  of  their  chiefs.  In  such  a 
sudden  demand  on  their  wisdom,  the  presence  of  the  cun- 
ning Magua  could  scarcely  fail  of  being  needed.  His  name 
was  mentioned,  and  all  looked  round  in  wonder  that  he  did 
not  appear.  Messengers  were  then  despatched  to  his  lodge, 
requiring  his  presence. 

In  the  mean  time,  some  of  the  swiftest  and  most  discreet 
of  the  young  men  were  ordered  to  make  the  circuit  of  the 
clearing,  under  cover  of  the  woods,  in  order  to  ascertain  that 
their  suspected  neighbors,  the  Delawares,  designed  no  mis- 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  353 

chief.  Women  and  children  ran  to  and  fro ;  and,  in  short, 
the  whole  encampment  exhibited  another  scene  of  wild  and 
savage  confusion.  Gradually,  however,  these  symptoms  of 
disorder  diminished;  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  oldest  and 
most  distinguished  chiefs  were  assembled  in  the  lodge,  in 
grave  consultation. 

The  clamor  of  many  voices  soon  announced  that  a  party 
approached,  who  might  be  expected  to  communicate  some 
intelligence  that  would  explain  the  mystery  of  the  novel  sur- 
prise. The  crowd  without  gave  way,  and  several  warriors 
entered  the  place,  bringing  with  them  the  hapless  conjuror^ 
who  had  been  left  so  long  by  the  scout  in  duress. 

Notwithstanding  this  man  was  held  in  very  unequal  esti 
mation  among  the  Hurons,  some  believing  implicitly  in  his 
power,  and  others  deeming  him  an  impostor,  he  was  now 
listened  to  by  all  with  the  deepest  attention.  When  his 
brief  story  was  ended,  the  father  of  the  sick  woman  stepped 
forth,  and,  in  a  few  pithy  expressions,  related,  in  his  turn, 
what  he  knew.  These  two  narratives  gave  a  proper  direc- 
tion to  the  subsequent  inquiries,  which  were  now  made  with 
the  characteristic  cunning  of  savages. 

Instead  of  rushing  in  a  confused  and  disorderly  throng  to 
the  cavern,  ten  of  the  wisest  and  firmest  among  the  chiefs 
were  selected  to  prosecute  the  investigation.  As  no  time 
was  to  be  lost,  the  instant  the  choice  was  made  the  indi- 
viduals appointed  rose  in  a  body,  and  left  the  place  without 
speaking.  On  reaching  the  entrance,  the  younger  men  in 
advance  made  way  for  their  seniors ;  and  the  whole  pro- 
ceeded along  the  low,  dark  gallery,  with  the  firmness  of  war- 
riors ready  to  devote  themselves  to  the  public  good,  though, 
at  the  same  time,  secretly  doubting  the  nature  of  the  power 
with  which  they  were  about  to  contend. 

The  outer  apartment  of  the  cavern  was  silent  and  gloomy. 

The  woman  lay  in  her  usual  place  and  posture,  though  there 

were  those  present  who  affirmed  they  had  seen  her  borne  to 

the  woods,  by  the  supposed  "medicine  of  the  white  men." 

23 


354  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

Such  a  direct  and  palpable  contradiction  of  the  tale  related 
by  the  father,  caused  all  eyes  to  be  turned  on  him.  Chafed 
by  the  silent  imputation,  and  inwardly  troubled  by  so  unac- 
countable a  circumstance,  the  chief  advanced  to  the  side  of 
the  bed,  and  stooping,  cast  an  incredulous  look-  at  the  fea- 
tures, as  if  distrusting  their  reality.  His  daughter  was 
dead. 

The  unerring  feeling  of  nature  for  a  moment  prevailed, 
and  the  old  warrior  hid  his  eyes  in  sorrow.  Then  recover- 
ing his  self-possession,  he  faced  his  companions,  and 
pointing  toward  the  corpse,  he  said,  in  the  language  of  his 
people — 

"The  wife  of  my  young  man  has  left  us!  theGreat  Spirit 
is  angry  with  his  children." 

The  mournful  intelligence  was  received  in  solemn  silence. 
After  a  short  pause,  one  of  the  elder  Indians  was  about  to 
speak,  when  a  dark-looking  object  was  seen  rolling  out  of 
an  adjoining  apartment,  into  the  very  centre  of  the  room 
where  they  stood.  Ignorant  of  the  nature  of  the  beings  they 
had  to  deal  with,  the  whole  party  drew  back  a  little,  and 
gazed  in  admiration,  until  the  object  fronted  the  light,  and 
raising  on  end,  exhibited  the  distorted,  but  still  fierce  and 
sullen,  features  of  Magut.  The  discovery  was  succeeded  by 
a  general  exclamation  of  amazement. 

As  soon,  however,  as  the  true  situation  of  the  chief  was 
understood,  several  ready  knives  appeared,  and  his  limbs 
and  tongue  were  quickly  released.  The  Huron  arose,  and 
shook  himself  like  a  lion  quitting  his  lair.  Not  a  word 
escaped  him,  though  his  hand  played  convulsively  with  the 
handle  of  his  knife,  while  his  lowering  eyes  scanned  the 
whole  party,  as  if  they  sought  an  object  suited  to  the  first 
burst  of  his  vengeance, 

It  was  happy  for  Uncas  and  the  scout,  and  even  David, 
that  they  were  all  beyond  the  reach  of  his  arm  at  such  a 
moment;  for,  assuredly,  no  refinement  in  cruelty  would  then 
have  deferred  their  deaths,  in  opposition  to  the  promptings 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  355 

of  the  fierce  temper  that  nearly  choked  him.  Meeting  every- 
where faces  that  he  knew  as  friends,  the  savage  grated  his 
teeth  together  like  rasps  of  iron,  and  swallowed  his  passion 
for  want  of  a  victim  on  whom  to  vent  it.  This  exhibition 
of  anger  was  noted  by  all  present ;  and,  from  an  apprehension 
of  exasperating  a  temper  that  was  already  chafed  nearly  to 
madness,  several  minutes  were  suffered  to  pass  before  an- 
other word  was  uttered.  When,  however,  suitable  time  had 
elapsed,  the  oldest  of  the  party  spoke. 

"  My  friend  has  found  an  enemy,"  he  said.  "  Is  he  nigh, 
that  the  Hurons  may  take  revenge?  " 

"  Let  the  Delaware  die!  "  exclaimed  Magua,  in  a  voice  of 
thunder. 

Another  long  and  expressive  silence  was  observed,  and 
was  broken,  as  before,  with  due  precaution,  by  the  same  in- 
dividual. 

"The  Mohican  is  swift  of  foot,  and  leaps  far,"  he  said; 
"but  my  young  men  are  on  his  trail." 

"Is  he  gone?"  demanded  Magua  in  tones  so  deep  and 
guttural,  that  they  seemed  to  proceed  from  his  inmost  chest. 

"  An  evil  spirit  has  been  among  us,  and  the  Delaware  has 
blinded  our  eyes." 

"An  evil  spirit!"  repeated  the  other,  mockingly;  "'tis 
the  spirit  that  has  taken  the  lives  of  so  many  Hurons.  The 
spirit  that  slew  my  young  men  at '  the  tumbling  river; '  that 
took  their  scalps  at  the  '  healing  spring ; '  and  who  has,  now, 
bound  the  arms  of  Le  Renard  subtil !  " 

"  Of  whom  does  my  friend  speak?  " 

"  Of  the  dog  who  carries  the  heart  and  cunning  of  a  Hu- 
ron under  a  pale  skin — La  longue  Carabine." 

The  pronunciation  of  so  terrible  a  name  produced  the 
usual  effect  among  his  auditors.  But  when  time  was  given 
for  reflection,  and  the  warriors  remembered  that  their  for- 
midable and  daring  enemy  had  even  been  in  the  bosom  of 
their  encampment,  working  injury,  fearful  rage  took  the 
place  of  wonder,  and  all  those  fierce  passions  with  which 


356  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

the  bosom  of  Magua  had  just  been  struggling  were  suddenly 
transferred  to  his  companions.  Some  among  them  gnashed 
their  teeth  in  anger,  others  vented  their  feelings  in  yells, 
and  some,  again,  beat  the  air  as  frantically  as  if  the  object 
of  their  resentment  were  suffering  under  their  blows.  But 
this  sudden  outbreaking  of  temper  as  quickly  subsided  in 
the  still  and  sullen  restraint  they  most  affected,  in  their  mo- 
ments of  inaction. 

Magua,  who  had,  in  his  turn,  found  leisure  for  reflection, 
now  changed  his  manner,  and  assumed  the  air  of  one  who 
knew  how  to  think  and  act  with  a  dignity  worthy  of  so  grave 
a  subject. 

"Let  us  go  to  my  people,"  he  said;  "they  wait  for  us." 

His  companions  consented  in  silence,  and  the  whole  of 
the  savage  party  left  the  cavern  and  returned  to  the  council 
lodge.  When  they  were  seated,  all  eyes  turned  on  Magua, 
who  understood,  from  such  an  indication,  that,  by  common 
consent,  they  had  devolved  the  duty  of  relating  what  had 
passed  on  him.  He  arose,  and  told  his  tale,  without  duplic- 
ity or  reservation.  The  whole  deception  practised  by  both 
Duncan  and  Hawk-eye  was,  of  course,  laid  naked;  and  no 
room  was  found,  even  for  the  most  superstitious  of  the  tribe, 
any  longer  to  affix  a  doubt  on  the  character  of  the  occur- 
rences. It  was  but  too  apparent  that  they  had  been  insult- 
ingly, shamefully,  disgracefully,  deceived.  When  he  had 
ended,  and  resumed  his  seat,  the  collected  tribe — for  his 
auditors,  in  substance,  included  all  the  fighting  men  of  the 
party — sat  regarding  each  other  like  men  astonished  equally 
at  the  audacity  and  the  success  of  their  enemies.  The  next 
consideration,  however,  was  the  means  and  opportunities  for 
revenge. 

Additional  pursuers  were  sent  on  the  trail  of  the  fugitives ; 
and  then  the  chiefs  applied  themselves,  in  earnest,  to  the 
business  of  consultation.  Many  different  expedients  were 
proposed  by  the  elder  warriors,  in  succession,  to  all  of 
which  Magua  was  a  silent  and  respectful  listener.     That  sub- 


THE    LAST   OF    THE    MOHICANS.  357 

tie  savage  had  recovered  his  artifice  and  self-command,  and 
now  proceeded  toward  his  object  with  his  customary  caution 
and  skill.  It  was  only  when  each  one  disposed  to  speak 
had  uttered  his  sentiments,  that  he  prepared  to  advance  his 
own  opinions.  They  were  given  with  additional  weight 
from  the  circumstance  that  some  of  the  runners  had  already 
returned,  and  reported  that  their  enemies  had  been  traced 
so  far  as  to  leave  no  doubt  of  their  having  sought  safety  in 
the  neighboring  camp  of  their  suspected  allies,  the  Dela- 
wares.  With  the  advantage  of  possessing  this  important 
intelligence,  the  chief  warily  laid  his  plans  before  his  fel- 
lows, and,  as  might  have  been  anticipated  from  his  eloquence 
and  cunning,  they  were  adopted  without  a  dissenting  voice. 
They  were,  briefly,  as  follows,  both  in  opinions  and  in  mo- 
tives. 

It  has  been  already  stated  that,  in  obedience  to  a  policy 
rarely  departed  from,  the  sisters  were  separated  so  soon  as 
they  reached  the  Huron  village.  Magua  had  early  discov- 
ered, that  in  retaining  the  person  of  Alice,  he  possessed  the 
most  effectual  check  on  Cora.  When  they  parted,  there- 
fore, he  kept  the  former  within  reach  of  his  hand,  consign- 
ing the  one  he  most  valued  to  the  keeping  of  their  allies. 
The  arrangement  was  understood  to  be  merely  temporary, 
and  was  made  as  much  with  a  view  to  flatter  his  neighbors 
as  in  obedience  to  the  invariable  rule  of  Indian  policy. 

While  goaded  incessantly  by  those  revengeful  impulses 
that  in  a  savage  seldom  slumber,  the  chief  was  still  atten- 
tive to  his  more  permanent  personal  interests.  The  follies 
and  disloyalty  committed  in  his  youth  were  to  be  expiated 
by  a  long  and  painful  penance  ere  he  could  be  restored  to 
the  full  enjoyment  of  the  confidence  of  his  ancient  people; 
and  without  confidence  there  could  be  no  authority  in  an 
Indian  tribe.  In  this  delicate  and  arduous  situation,  the 
crafty  native  had  neglected  no  means  of  increasing  his  in- 
fluence; and  one  of  the  happiest  of  his  expedients  had  been, 
the  success  with  which  he  had  cultivated  the  favor  of  their 


35§  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

powerful  and  dangerous  neighbors.  The  result  of  his  ex- 
periment had  answered  all  the  expectations  of  his  policy; 
for  the  Hurons  were  in  no  degree  exempt  from  that  govern- 
ing principle  of  nature,  which  induces  man  to  value  his  gifts 
precisely  in  the  degree  that  they  are  appreciated  by  others. 

But,  while  he  was  making  this  ostensible  sacrifice  to  gen- 
eral considerations,  Magua  never  lost  sight  of  his  individual 
motives.  The  latter  had  been  frustrated  by  the  unlooked- 
for  events  which  had  placed  all  his  prisoners  beyond  his 
control;  and  he  now  found  himself  reduced  to  the  necessity 
of  suing  for  favors  to  those  whom  it  had  so  lately  been  his 
policy  to  oblige. 

Several  of  the  chiefs  had  proposed  deep  and  treacherous 
schemes  to  surprise  the  Delawares,  and,  by  gaining  posses- 
sion of  their  camp,  to  recover  their  prisoners  by  the  same 
blow;  for  all  agreed  that  their  honor,  their  interests,  and 
the  peace  and  happiness  of  their  dead  countrymen,  imperi- 
ously required  them  speedily  to  immolate  some  victims  to 
their  revenge.  But  plans  so  dangerous  to  attempt,  and  of 
such  doubtful  issue,  Magua  found  little  difficulty  in  defeat- 
ing. He  exposed  their  risk  and  fallacy  with  his  usual  skill ; 
and  it  was  only  after  he  had  removed  every  impediment,  in 
the  shape  of  opposing  advice,  that  he  ventured  to  propose 
his  own  projects. 

He  commenced  by  flattering  the  self-love  of  his  auditors; 
a  never-failing  method  of  commanding  attention.  When  he 
had  enumerated  the  many  different  occasions  on  which  the 
Hurons  had  exhibited  their  courage  and  prowess,  in  the 
punishment  of  insults,  he  digressed  in  a  high  encomium  on 
the  virtue  of  wisdom.  He  painted  the  quality,  as  forming 
the  great  point  of  difference  between  the  beaver  and  other 
brutes;  between  brutes  and  men;  and,  finally,  between  the 
Hurons,  in  particular,  and  the  rest  of  the  human  race.  After 
he  had  sufficiently  extolled  the  property  of  discretion,  he 
undertook  to  exhibit  in  what  manner  its  use  was  applicable 
to  the  present  situation  of  their  tribe.    On  the  one  hand,  he 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  359 

said,  was  their  great  pale  father,  the  governor  of  the  Canadas, 
who  had  looked  upon  his  children  with  a  hard  eye,  since 
their  tomahawks  had  been  so  red :  on  the  other,  a  people  as 
numerous  as  themselves,  who  spoke  a  different  language, 
possessed  different  interests,  and  loved  them  not,  and  who 
would  be  glad  of  any  pretence  to  bring  them  in  disgrace  with 
the  great  white  chief.  Then  he  spoke  of  their  necessities ; 
of  the  gifts  they  had  a  right  to  expect  for  their  past  ser- 
vices; of  their  distance  from  their  proper  hunting-grounds 
and  native  villages;  and  of  the  necessity  of  consulting 
prudence  more,  and  inclination  less,  in  so  critical  circum- 
stances. When  he  perceived  that,  while  the  old  men  ap- 
plauded his  moderation,  many  of  the  fiercest  and  most  dis- 
tinguished of  the  warriors  listened  to  these  politic  plans 
with  lowering  looks,  he  cunningly  led  them  back  to  the  sub- 
ject which  they  most  loved.  He  spoke  openly  of  the  fruits 
of  their  wisdom,  which  he  boldly  pronounced  would  be  a 
complete  and  final  triumph  over  their  enemies.  He  even 
darkly  hinted  that  their  success  might  be  extended,  with 
proper  caution,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  include  the  destruc- 
tion of  all  whom  they  had  reason  to  hate.  In  short,  he  so 
blended  the  warlike  with  the  artful,  the  obvious  with  the 
obscure,  as  to  flatter  the  propensities  of  both  parties,  and  to 
leave  to  each  subject  of  hope,  while  neither  could  say  it 
clearly  comprehended  his  intentions. 

The  orator,  or  the  politician,  who  can  produce  such  a  state 
of  things,  is  commonly  popular  with  his  contemporaries, 
however  he  may  be  treated  by  posterity.  All  perceived  that 
more  was  meant  than  was  uttered,  and  each  one  believed 
that  the  hidden  meaning  was  precisely  such  as  his  own  fac- 
ulties enabled  him  to  understand,  or  his  own  wishes  led  him 
to  anticipate. 

In  this  happy  state  of  things,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the 
management  of  Magua  prevailed.  The  tribe  consented  to 
act  with  deliberation,  and  with  one  voice  they  committed 
the  direction  of  the  whole  affair  to  the  government  of  the 


360  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

chief  who  had  suggested  such  wise  and  intelligible  expedi- 
ents. 

Magua  had  now  attained  one  great  object  of  all  his  cun- 
ning and  enterprise.  The  ground  he  had  lost  in  the  favor 
of  his  people  was  completely  regained,  and  he  found  him- 
self even  placed  at  the  head  of  affairs.  He  was,  in  truth, 
their  ruler;  and,  so  long  as  he  could  maintain  his  popular- 
ity, no  monarch  could  be  more  despotic,  especially  while 
the  tribe  continued  in  a  hostile  country.  Throwing  off, 
therefore,  the  appearance  of  consultation,  he  assumed  the 
grave  air  of  authority  necessary  to  support  the  dignity  of 
his  office. 

Runners  were  despatched  for  intelligence  in  different  di- 
rections; spies  were  ordered  to  approach  and  feel  the  en- 
campment of  the  Delawares;  the  warriors  were  dismissed  to 
their  lodges,  with  an  intimation  that  their  services  would 
soon  be  needed ;  and  the  women  and  children  were  ordered 
to  retire,  with  a  warning  that  it  was  their  province  to  be 
silent.  When  these  several  arrangements  were  made,  Ma- 
gua passed  through  the  village,  stopping  here  and  there  to 
pay  a  visit  where  he  thought  his  presence  might  be  flatter- 
ing to  the  individual.  He  confirmed  his  friends  in  their 
confidence,  fixed  the  wavering,  and  gratified  all.  Then  he 
sought  his  own  lodge.  The  wife  the  Huron  chief  had  aban- 
doned, when  he  was  chased  from  among  his  people,  was 
dead.  Children  he  had  none;  and  he  now  occupied  a  hut, 
without  companion  of  any  sort.  It  was,  in  fact,  the  dilapi- 
dated and  solitary  structure  in  which  David  had  been  dis- 
covered, and  whom  he  had  tolerated  in  his  presence,  on 
those  few  occasions  when  they  met,  with  the  contemptuous 
indifference  of  a  haughty  superiority. 

Hither,  then,  Magua  retired,  when  his  labors  of  policy 
were  ended.  While  others  slept,  however,  he  neither  knew 
nor  sought  repose.  Had  there  been  one  sufficiently  curious 
to  have  watched  the  movements  of  the  newly  elected  chief,  he 
would  have  seen  him  seated  in  a  corner  of  his  lodge,  musing 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  36 1 

on  the  subject  of  his  future  plans,  from  the  hour  of  his 
retirement  to  the  time  he  had  appointed  for  the  warriors  to 
assemble  again.  Occasionally  the  air  breathed  through  the 
crevices  of  the  hut,  and  the  low  flame  that  fluttered  about  the 
embers  of  the  fire  threw  their  wavering  light  on  the  person 
of  the  sullen  recluse.  At  such  moments  it  would  not  have 
been  difficult  to  have  fancied  the  dusky  savage  the  Prince 
of  Darkness,  brooding  on  his  own  fancied  wrongs,  and 
plotting  evil. 

Long  before  the  day  dawned,  however,  warrior  after  war- 
rior entered  the  solitary  hut  of  Magua,  until  they  had  col- 
lected to  the  number  of  twenty.  Each  bore  his  rifle,  and  all 
the  other  accoutrements  of  war,  though  the  paint  was  uni- 
formly peaceful.  The  entrance  of  these  fierce-looking  beings 
was  unnoticed ;  some  seating  themselves  in  the  shadows  of 
the  place,  and  others  standing  like  motionless  statues,  until 
the  whole  of  the  designated  band  was  collected. 

Then  Magua  arose  and  gave  the  signal  to  proceed,  march- 
ing himself  in  advance.  They  followed  their  leader  singly, 
and  in  that  well-known  order  which  has  obtained  the  distin- 
guishing appellation  of  "  Indian  file."  Unlike  other  men 
engaged  in  the  spirit-stirring  business  of  war,  they  stole 
from  their  camp  unostentatiously  and  unobserved,  resem- 
bling a  band  of  gliding  spectres,  more  than  warriors  seek- 
ing the  bubble  reputation  by  deeds  of  desperate  daring. 

Instead  of  taking  the  path  which  led  directly  toward  the 
camp  of  the  Delawares,  Magua  led  his  party  for  some  dis- 
tance down  the  windings  of  the  stream,  and  along  the  little 
artificial  lake  of  the  beavers.  The  day  began  to  dawn  as 
they  entered  the  clearing  which  had  been  formed  by  those 
sagacious  and  industrious  animals.  Though  Magua,  who 
had  resumed  his  ancient  garb,  bore  the  outline  of  a  fox  on 
the  dressed  skin  which  formed  his  robe,  there  was  one  chief 
of  his  party  who  carried  the  beaver  as  his  peculiar  symbol, 
or  "  totem."  There  would  have  been  a  species  of  profanity 
in  the  omission,  had  this  man  passed  so  powerful  a  commu- 


362         THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

nity  of  his  fancied  kindred,  without  bestowing  some  evi- 
dence of  his  regard.  Accordingly,  he  paused,  and  spoke  in 
words  as  kind  and  friendly  as  if  he  were  addressing  more 
intelligent  beings.  He  called  the  animals  his  cousins,  and 
reminded  them  that  his  protecting  influence  was  the  reason 
they  remained  unharmed,  while  so  many  avaricious  traders 
were  prompting  the  Indians  to  take  their  lives.  He  prom- 
ised a  continuance  of  his  favors,  and  admonished  them  to 
be  grateful.  After  which,  he  spoke  of  the  expedition  in 
which  he  was  himself  engaged,  and  intimated,  though  with 
sufficient  delicacy  and  circumlocution,  the  expediency  of 
bestowing  on  their  relative  a  portion  of  that  wisdom  for 
which  they  were  so  renowned.* 

During  the  utterance  of  this  extraordinary  address,  the 
companions  of  the  speaker  were  as  grave  and  as  attentive 
to  his  language  as  though  they  were  all  equally  impressed 
with  its  propriety.  Once  or  twice  black  objects  were  seen 
rising  to  the  surface  of  the  water,  and  the  Huron  expressed 
pleasure,  conceiving  that  his  words  were  not  bestowed  in 
vain.  Just  as  he  had  ended  his  address,  the  head  of  a  large 
beaver  was  thrust  from  the  door  of  a  lodge,  whose  earthen 
walls  had  been  much  injured,  and  which  the  party  had  be- 
lieved, from  its  situation,  to  be  uninhabited.  Such  an  ex- 
traordinary sign  of  confidence  was  received  by  the  orator  as 
a  highly  favorable  omen ;  and  though  the  animal  retreated 
a  little  precipitately,  he  was  lavish  of  his  thanks  and  com- 
mendations. 

When  Magua  thought  sufficient  time  had  been  lost  in 
gratifying  the  family  affection  of  the  warrior,  he  again  made 
the  signal  to  proceed.  As  the  Indians  moved  away  in  a 
body,  and  with  a  step  that  would  have  been  inaudible  to  the 
ears  of  any  common  man,  the  same  venerable-looking  beaver 
once  more  ventured  his  head  from  its  cover.  Had  any  of 
the  Hurons  turned  to  look  behind  them,  they  would  have 

*  These  harangues  of  the  beasts  are  frequent  among  the  Indians.  They  often  ad- 
dress their  victims  in  this  way,  reproaching  them  for  cowardice,  or  commending  their 
resolution,  as  they  may  happen  to  exhibit  fortitude  or  the  reverse  in  suffering. 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  363 

seen  the  animal  watching  their  movements  with  an  interest 
and  sagacity  that  might  easily  have  been  mistaken  for  rea- 
son. Indeed,  so  very  distinct  and  intelligible  were  the  de- 
vices of  the  quadruped,  that  even  the  most  experienced  ob- 
server would  have  been  at  a  loss  to  account  for  its  actions, 
until  the  moment  when  the  party  entered  the  forest,  when 
the  whole  would  have  been  explained  by  seeing  the  entire 
animal  issue  from  the  lodge,  uncasing,  by  the  act,  the  grave 
features  of  Chingachgook  from  his  mask  of  fur. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 


Brief,  I  pray  you  ;  for  you  see,  'tis  a  busy  time  with  me. 

Much  Ado  About  Nothing. 

The  tribe,  or  rather  half  tribe,  of  Delawares,  which  has  been 
so  often  mentioned,  and  whose  present  place  of  encampment 
was  so  nigh  the  temporary  village  of  the  Hurons,  could  as- 
semble about  an  equal  number  of  warriors  with  the  latter 
people.  Like  their  neighbors,  they  had  followed  Montcalm 
into  the  territories  of  the  English  crown,  and  were  making 
heavy  and  serious  inroads  on  the  hunting  grounds  of  the 
Mohawks;  though  they  had  seen  fit,  with  the  mysterious 
reserve  so  common  among  the  natives,  to  withhold  their 
assistance  at  the  moment  when  it  was  most  required.  The 
French  had  accounted  for  this  unexpected  defection  on  the 
part  of  their  ally  in  various  ways.  It  was  the  prevalent 
opinion,  however,  that  they  had  been  influenced  by  venera- 
tion for  the  ancient  treaty,  that  had  once  made  them  depen- 
dent on  the  Six  Nations  for  military  protection,  and  now 
rendered  them  reluctant  to  encounter  their  former  masters. 
As  for  the  tribe  itself,  it  had  been  content  to  announce  to 
Montcalm,  through  his  emissaries,  with  Indian  brevity,  that 
their  hatchets  were  dull,  and  time  was  necessary  to  sharpen 
them.     The  politic  Captain  of  the  Canadas  had  deemed  it 


364  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

wiser  to  submit  to  entertain  a  passive  friend,  than  by  any 
acts  of  ill-judged  severity  to  convert  him  into  an  open 
enemy. 

On  that  morning  when  Magua  led  his  silent  party  from 
the  settlement  of  the  beavers  into  the  forest,  in  the  manner 
described,  the  sun  rose  upon  the  Delaware  encampment,  as 
if  it  had  suddenly  burst  upon  a  busy  people,  actively  em- 
ployed in  all  the  customary  avocations  of  high  noon.  The 
women  ran  from  lodge  to  lodge,  some  engaged  in  preparing 
their  morning's  meal,  a  few  earnestly  bent  on  seeking  the 
comforts  necessary  to  their  habits,  but  more  pausing  to  ex- 
change hasty  and  whispered  sentences  with  their  friends. 
The  warriors  were  lounging  in  groups,  musing  more  than 
they  conversed;  and  when  a  few  words  were  uttered,  speak- 
ing like  men  who  deeply  weighed  their  opinions.  The 
instruments  of  the  chase  were  to  be  seen  in  abundance 
among  the  lodges;  but  none  departed.  Here  and  there  a 
warrior  was  examining  his  arms,  with  an  attention  that  is 
rarely  bestowed  on  the  implements,  when  no  other  enemy 
than  the  beasts  of  the  forest  is  expected  to  be  encountered. 
And,  occasionally,  the  eyes  of  a  whole  group  were  turned 
simultaneously  toward  a  large  and  silent  lodge  in  the  centre 
of  the  village,  as  if  it  contained  the  subject  of  their  common 
thoughts. 

During  the  existence  of  this  scene,  a  man  suddenly  ap- 
peared at  the  furthest  extremity  of  a  platform  of  rock  which 
formed  the  level  of  the  village.  He  was  without  arms,  and 
his  paint  tended  rather  to  soften  than  increase  the  natural 
sternness  of  his  austere  countenance.  When  in  full  view  of 
the  Delawares  he  stopped,  and  made  a  gesture  of  amity,  by 
throwing  his  arm  upward  toward  heaven,  and  then  letting  it 
fall  impressively  on  his  breast.  The  inhabitants  of  the  vil- 
lage answered  his  salute  by  a  low  murmur  of  welcome,  and 
encouraged  him  to  advance  by  similar  indications  of  friend- 
ship. Fortified  by  these  assurances,  the  dark  figure  left  the 
brow  of  the  natural  rocky  terrace,  where  it  had  stood  a  mo- 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS.  365 

ment,  drawn  in  a  strong  outline  against  the  blushing  morn- 
ing sky,  and  moved  with  dignity  into  the  very  centre  of  the 
huts.  As  he  approached,  nothing  was  audible  but  the  rat- 
tling of  the  light  silver  ornaments  that  loaded  his  arms  and 
neck,  and  the  tinkling  of  the  little  bells  that  fringed  his  deer- 
skin moccasins.  He  made,  as  he  advanced,  many  courteous 
signs  of  greeting  to  the  men  he  passed,  neglecting  to  notice 
the  women,  however,  like  one  who  deemed  their  favor,  in 
the  present  enterprise,  of  no  importance.  When  he  had 
reached  the  group  in  which  it  was  evident,  by  the  haughti- 
ness of  their  common  mien,  that  the  principal  chiefs  were 
collected,  the  stranger  paused,  and  then  the  Delawares  saw 
that  the  active  and  erect  form  that  stood  before  them  was 
that  of  the  well-known  Huron  chief,  Le  Renard  subtil. 

His  reception  was  grave,  silent,  and  wary.  The  warriors 
in  front  stepped  aside,  opening  the  way  to  their  most  ap- 
proved orator  by  the  action;  one  who  spoke  all  those  lan- 
guages that  were  cultivated  among  the  northern  aborigines. 

"  The  wise  Huron  is  welcome,"  said  the  Delaware,  in 
the  language  of  the  Maquas;  "he  is  come  to  eat  his'  succa- 
tash,'  *  with  his  brothers  of  the  lakes." 

"  He  is  come,"  repeated  Magua,  bending  his  head  with  the 
dignity  of  an  Eastern  prince. 

The  chief  extended  his  arm,  and  taking  the  other  by  the 
wrist,  they  once  more  exchanged  friendly  salutations.  Then 
the  Delaware  invited  his  guest  to  enter  his  own  lodge,  and 
share  his  morning  meal.  The  invitation  was  accepted;  and 
the  two  warriors,  attended  by  three  or  four  of  the  old  men, 
walked  calmly  away,  leaving  the  rest  of  the  tribe  devoured 
by  a  desire  to  understand  the  reasons  of  so  unusual  a  visit, 
and  yet  not  betraying  the  least  impatience  by  sign  or  word. 

During  the  short  and  frugal  repast  that  followed,  the  con- 
versation was  extremely  circumspect,  and  related  entirely  to 
the  events  of  the  hunt,  in  which  Magua  had  so  lately  been 

*  A  dish  composed  of  cracked  corn  and  beans.     It  is  much  used  also  by  the  whites. 
By  corn  is  meant  maize. 


366  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

engaged.  It  would  have  been  impossible  for  the  most  fin- 
ished breeding  to  wear  more  of  the  appearance  of  consider- 
ing the  visit  as  a  thing  of  course,  than  did  his  hosts,  not- 
withstanding every  individual  present  was  perfectly  aware 
that  it  must  be  connected  with  some  secret  object,  and  that 
probably  of  importance  to  themselves.  When  the  appetites 
of  the  whole  were  appeased,  the  squaws  removed  the  trench- 
ers and  gourds,  and  the  two  parties  began  to  prepare  them- 
selves for  a  subtle  trial  of  their  wits. 

"  Is  the  face  of  my  great  Canada  father  turned  again  to- 
ward his  Huron  children?"  demanded  the  orator  of  the 
Delawares. 

"  When  was  it  ever  otherwise?  "  returned  Magua.  "He 
calls  my  people  '  most  beloved.'  " 

The  Delaware  gravely  bowed  his  acquiescence  to  what  he 
knew  to  be  false,  and  continued — 

"  The  tomahawks  of  your  young  men  have  been  very 
red ! " 

"  It  is  so;  but  they  are  now  bright  and  dull ;  for  the  Yen- 
geese  are  dead,  and  the  Delawares  are  our  neighbors." 

The  other  acknowledged  the  pacific  compliment  by  a  ges- 
ture of  the  hand,  and  remained  silent.  Then  Magua,  as  if 
recalled  to  such  a  recollection  by  the  allusion  to  the  massa- 
cre, demanded — 

"  Does  my  prisoner  give  trouble  to  my  brothers?  " 

"  She  is  welcome." 

"  The  path  between  the  Hurons  and  the  Delawares  is 
short,  and  it  is  open ;  let  her  be  sent  to  my  squaws,  if  she 
gives  trouble  to  my  brother." 

"  She  is  welcome,"  returned  the  chief  of  the  latter  nation, 
still  more  emphatically. 

The  baffled  Magua  continued  silent  several  minutes,  ap- 
parently indifferent,  however,  to  the  repulse  he  had  received 
in  this  his  opening  effort  to  regain  possession  of  Cora. 

"  Do  my  young  men  leave  the  Delawares  room  on  the 
mountains  for  their  hunts?  "  he  at  length  continued. 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  365 

ment,  drawn  in  a  strong  outline  against  the  blushing  morn- 
ing sky,  and  moved  with  dignity  into  the  very  centre  of  the 
huts.  As  he  approached,  nothing  was  audible  but  the  rat- 
tling of  the  light  silver  ornaments  that  loaded  his  arms  and 
neck,  and  the  tinkling  of  the  little  bells  that  fringed  his  deer- 
skin moccasins.  He  made,  as  he  advanced,  many  courteous 
signs  of  greeting  to  the  men  he  passed,  neglecting  to  notice 
the  women,  however,  like  one  who  deemed  their  favor,  in 
the  present  enterprise,  of  no  importance.  When  he  had 
reached  the  group  in  which  it  was  evident,  by  the  haughti- 
ness of  their  common  mien,  that  the  principal  chiefs  were 
collected,  the  stranger  paused,  and  then  the  Delawares  saw 
that  the  active  and  erect  form  that  stood  before  them  was 
that  of  the  well-known  Huron  chief,  Le  Renard  subtil. 

His  reception  was  grave,  silent,  and  wary.  The  warriors 
in  front  stepped  aside,  opening  the  way  to  their  most  ap- 
proved orator  by  the  action ;  one  who  spoke  all  those  lan- 
guages that  were  cultivated  among  the  northern  aborigines. 

"  The  wise  Huron  is  welcome,"  said  the  Delaware,  in 
the  language  of  the  Maquas;  "he  is  come  to  eat  his'  succa- 
tash,'*  with  his  brothers  of  the  lakes." 

"  He  is  come,"  repeated  Magua,  bending  his  head  with  the 
dignity  of  an  Eastern  prince. 

The  chief  extended  his  arm,  and  taking  the  other  by  the 
wrist,  they  once  more  exchanged  friendly  salutations.  Then 
the  Delaware  invited  his  guest  to  enter  his  own  lodge,  and 
share  his  morning  meal.  The  invitation  was  accepted;  and 
the  two  warriors,  attended  by  three  or  four  of  the  old  men, 
walked  calmly  away,  leaving  the  rest  of  the  tribe  devoured 
by  a  desire  to  understand  the  reasons  of  so  unusual  a  visit, 
and  yet  not  betraying  the  least  impatience  by  sign  or  word. 

During  the  short  and  frugal  repast  that  followed,  the  con- 
versation was  extremely  circumspect,  and  related  entirely  to 
the  events  of  the  hunt,  in  which  Magua  had  so  lately  been 

*  A  dish  composed  of  cracked  corn  and  beans.     It  is  much  used  also  by  the  whites. 
By  corn  is  meant  maize. 


366  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

engaged.  It  would  have  been  impossible  for  the  most  fin- 
ished breeding  to  wear  more  of  the  appearance  of  consider- 
ing the  visit  as  a  thing  of  course,  than  did  his  hosts,  not- 
withstanding every  individual  present  was  perfectly  aware 
that  it  must  be  connected  with  some  secret  object,  and  that 
probably  of  importance  to  themselves.  When  the  appetites 
of  the  whole  were  appeased,  the  squaws  removed  the  trench- 
ers and  gourds,  and  the  two  parties  began  to  prepare  them- 
selves for  a  subtle  trial  of  their  wits. 

"  Is  the  face  of  my  great  Canada  father  turned  again  to- 
ward his  Huron  children?"  demanded  the  orator  of  the 
Delawares. 

"  When  was  it  ever  otherwise  ?"  returned  Magua.  "He 
calls  my  people  '  most  beloved.'  " 

The  Delaware  gravely  bowed  his  acquiescence  to  what  he 
knew  to  be  false,  and  continued — 

"  The  tomahawks  of  your  young  men  have  been  very 
red!" 

"  It  is  so;  but  they  are  now  bright  and  dull ;  for  the  Yen- 
geese  are  dead,  and  the  Delawares  are  our  neighbors." 

The  other  acknowledged  the  pacific  compliment  by  a  ges- 
ture of  the  hand,  and  remained  silent.  Then  Magua,  as  if 
recalled  to  such  a  recollection  by  the  allusion  to  the  massa- 
cre, demanded- — 

"  Does  my  prisoner  give  trouble  to  my  brothers?  " 

"  She  is  welcome." 

"  The  path  between  the  Hurons  and  the  Delawares  is 
short,  and  it  is  open ;  let  her  be  sent  to  my  squaws,  if  she 
gives  trouble  to  my  brother." 

"  She  is  welcome,"  returned  the  chief  of  the  latter  nation, 
still  more  emphatically. 

The  baffled  Magua  continued  silent  several  minutes,  ap- 
parently indifferent,  however,  to  the  repulse  he  had  received 
in  this  his  opening  effort  to  regain  possession  of  Cora. 

"  Do  my  young  men  leave  the  Delawares  room  on  the 
mountains  for  their  hunts?  "  he  at  length  continued. 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  367 

"  The  Lenape  are  rulers  of  their  own  hills,"  returned  the 
other,  a  little  haughtily. 

"It  is  well.  Justice  is  the  master  of  a  red-skin!  Why 
should  they  brighten  their  tomahawks,  and  sharpen  their 
knives  against  each  other?  Are  not  the  pale-faces  thicker 
than  the  swallows  in  the  season  of  flowers  ?  " 

"Good!"  exclaimed  two  or  three  of  his  auditors  at  the 
same  time. 

Magua  waited  a  little,  to  permit  his  words  to  soften  the 
feelings  of  the  Delawares,  before  he  added — 

"Have  there  not  been  strange  moccasins  in  the  woods? 
Have  not  my  brothers  scented  the  feet  of  white  men  ? " 

"  Let  my  Canada  father  come,"  returned  the  other  eva- 
sively; "his  children  are  ready  to  see  him." 

"  When  the  great  chief  comes,  it  is  to  smoke  with  the  In- 
dians in  their  wigwams.  The  Hurons  say,  too,  he  is  wel- 
come. But  the  Yengeese  have  long  arms,  and  legs  that 
never  tire !  My  young  men  dreamed  they  had  seen  the  trail 
of  the  Yengeese  nigh  the  village  of  the  Delawares!  " 

"  They  will  not  find  the  Lenape  asleep." 

"  It  is  well.  The  warrior  whose  eye  is  open  can  see  his 
enemy,"  said  Magua,  once  more  shifting  his  ground,  when 
he  found  himself  unable  to  penetrate  the  caution  of  his 
companion.  "  I  have  brought  gifts  to  my  brother.  His 
nation  would  not  go  on  the  war-path,  because  they  did  not 
think  it  well;  but  their  friends  have  remembered  where 
they  lived." 

When  he  had  thus  announced  his  liberal  intention,  the 
crafty  chief  arose,  and  gravely  spread  his  presents  before 
the  dazzled  eyes  of  his  hosts.  They  consisted  principally 
of  trinkets  of  little  value,  plundered  from  the  slaughtered 
females  of  William  Henry.  In  the  division  of  the  baubles 
the  cunning  Huron  discovered  no  less  art  than  in  their  se- 
lection. While  he  bestowed  those  of  greater  value  on  the 
two  most  distinguished  warriors,  one  of  whom  was  his  host, 
he  seasoned  his  offerings  to  their  inferiors  with  such  well- 


368  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

timed  and  apposite  compliments,  as  left  them  no  grounds  of 
complaint.  In  short,  the  whole  ceremony  contained  such  a 
happy  blending  of  the  profitable  with  the  flattering,  that  it 
was  not  difficult  for  the  donor  immediately  to  read  the  effect 
of  a  generosity  so  aptly  mingled  with  praise,  in  the  eyes  of 
those  he  addressed. 

This  well-judged  and  politic  stroke  on  the  part  of  Magua 
was  not  without  instantaneous  results.  The  Delawares  lost 
their  gravity  in  a  much  more  cordial  expression ;  and  the 
host,  in  particular,  after  contemplating  his  own  liberal  share 
of  the  spoil  for  some  moments  with  peculiar  gratification, 
repeated  with  strong  emphasis,  the  words — 

"My  brother  is  a  wise  chief.     He  is  welcome."' 

"  The  Hurons  love  their  friends  Ae  Delawares,"  returned 
Magua.  "Why  should  they  not?  they  are  colored  by  the 
same  sun,  and  their  just  men  will  hunt  in  the  same  grounds 
after  death.  The  red-skins  should  be  friends,  and  look 
with  open  eyes  on  the  white  men.  Has  not  my  brother 
scented  spies  in  the  woods?  " 

The  Delaware  whose  name  in  English  signified  "Hard 
heart,"  an  appellation  that  the  French  had  translated  into 
"  Le  Cceur-dur,"  forgot  that  obduracy  of  purpose,  which  had 
probably  obtained  him  so  significant  a  title.  His  counte- 
nance grew  very  sensibly  less  stern,  and  he  now  deigned  to 
answer  more  directly. 

"  There  have  been  strange  moccasins  about  my  camp. 
They  have  been  tracked  into  my  lodges." 

"  Did  my  brother  beat  out  the  dogs?  "  asked  Magua,  with- 
out adverting  in  any  manner  to  the  former  equivocation  of 
the  chief. 

"  It  would  not  do.  The  stranger  is  always  welcome  to  the 
children  of  the  Lenape." 

"The  stranger,  but  not  the  spy." 

"Would  the  Yengeese  send  their  women  as  spies?  Did 
not  the  Huron  chief  say  he  took  women  in  the  battle? 

"  He  told  no  lie.     The  Yengeese   have  sent   out   their 


THE   LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS,  369 

scouts.  They  have  been  in  my  wigwams,  but  they  found 
there  no  one  to  say  welcome.  Then  they  fled  to  the  Dela- 
wares — for,  say  they,  the  Delawares  are  our  friends;  their 
minds  are  turned  from  their  Canada  father!  " 

This  insinuation  was  a  home  thrust,  and  one  that  in  a 
more  advanced  state  of  society  would  have  entitled  Magua 
to  the  reputation  of  a  skilful  diplomatist.  The  recent  de- 
fection of  the  tribe  had,  as  they  well  knew  themselves,  sub- 
jected the  Delawares  to  much  reproach  among  their  French 
allies;  and  they  were  now  made  to  feel  that  their  future 
actions  were  to  be  regarded  with  jealousy  and  distrust. 
There  was  no  deep  insight  into  causes  and  effects  necessary 
to  foresee  that  such  a  situation  of  things  was  likely  to  prove 
highly  prejudicial  to  their  future  movements.  Their  dis- 
tant villages,  their  hunting  grounds,  and  hundreds  of  their 
women  and  children,  together  with  a  material  part  of  their 
physical  force,  were  actually  within  the  limits  of  the  French 
territory.  Accordingly,  this  alarming  annunciation  was  re- 
ceived, as  Magua  intended,  with  manifest  disapprobation,  if 
not  with  alarm. 

"  Let  my  father  look  in  my  face,"  said  Le  Cceur-dur ;  "he 
will  see  no  change.  It  is  true,  my  young  men  did  not  go 
out  on  the  war-path;  they  had  dreams  for  not  doing  so.  But 
they  love  and  venerate  the  great  white  chief." 

"  Will  he  think  so  when  he  hears  that  his  greatest  enemy 
is  fed  in  the  camp  of  his  children?  When  he  is  told  a 
bloody  Yengee  smokes  at  your  fire  ?  That  the  pale-face  who 
has  slain  so  many  of  his  friends  goes  in  and  out  among 
the  Delawares?  Go — my  great  Canada  father  is  not  a 
fool ! " 

"  Where  is  the  Yengee  that  the  Delawares  fear?  "  returned 
the  other;  "who  has  slain  my  young  men?  who  is  the  mor- 
tal enemy  of  my  Great  Father !  " 

"  La  longue  Carabine." 

The  Delaware  warriors  started  at  the  well-known  name, 
betraying,  by  their  amazement,  that  they  now  learnt,  for  the 
24 


37©  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

first  time,  one  so  famous  among  the  Indian  allies  of  France 
was  within  their  power. 

"  What  does  my  brother  mean  ?  "  demanded  Le  Cceur-dur, 
in  a  tone  that,  by  its  wonder,  far  exceeded  the  usual  apathy 
of  his  race. 

"A  Huron  never  lies!  "  returned  Magua  coldly,  leaning 
his  head  against  the  side  of  the  lodge,  and  drawing  his  slight 
robe  across  his  tawny  breast.  "  Let  the  Delawares  count 
their  prisoners;  they  will  find  one  whose  skin  is  neither  red 
nor  pale." 

A  long  and  musing  pause  succeeded.  The  chief  con- 
sulted apart  with  his  companions,  and  messengers  were  de- 
spatched to  collect  certain  others  of  the  most  distinguished 
men  of  the  tribe. 

As  warrior  after  warrior  dropped  in,  they  were  each  made 
acquainted,  in  turn,  with  the  important  intelligence  that 
Magua  had  just  communicated.  The  air  of  surprise,  and 
the  usual  low,  deep,  guttural  exclamation,  were  common  to 
them  all.  The  news  spread  from  mouth  to  mouth,  until  the 
whole  encampment  became  powerfully  agitated.  The  women 
suspended  their  labors,  to  catch  such  syllables  as  unguard- 
edly fell  from  the  lips  of  the  consulting  warriors.  The  boys 
deserted  their  sports,  and,  walking  fearlessly  among  their 
fathers,  looked  up  in  curious  admiration,  as  they  heard  the 
brief  exclamations  of  wonder  they  so  freely  expressed  at  the 
temerity  of  their  hated  foe.  In  short,  every  occupation 
was  abandoned  for  the  time,  and  all  other  pursuits  seemed 
discarded,  in  order  that  the  tribe  might  freely  indulge,  after 
their  own  peculiar  manner,  in  an  open  expression  of  feeling. 

When  the  excitement  had  a  little  abated,  the  old  men  dis- 
posed themselves  seriously  to  consider  that  which  it  became 
the  honor  and  safety  of  their  tribe  to  perform,  under  cir- 
cumstances of  so  much  delicacy  and  embarrassment.  Dur- 
ing ail  these  movements,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  general 
commotion,  Magua  had  not  only  maintained  his  seat,  but 
the  very  attitude  he  had  originally  taken,  against  the  side 


THE    LAST   OF    THE    MOHICANS.  37 1 

of  the  lodge,  where  he  continued  as  immovable,  and,  appar- 
ently, as  unconcerned,  as  if  he  had  no  interest  in  the  result. 
Not  a  single  indication  of  the  future  intentions  of  his  hosts, 
however,  escaped  his  vigilant  eyes.  With  his  consummate 
knowledge  of  the  nature  of  the  people  with  whom  he  had  to 
deal,  he  anticipated  every  measure  on  which  they  decided; 
and  it  might  almost  be  said,  that,  in  many  instances,  he 
knew  their  intentions,  even  before  they  became  known  to 
themselves. 

The  council  of  the  Delawares  was  short.  When  it  was 
ended,  a  general  bustle  announced,  that  it  was  to  be  be  im- 
mediately succeeded  by  a  solemn  and  formal  assemblage  of 
the  nation.  As  such  meetings  were  rare,  and  only  called  on 
occasions  of  the  last  importance,  the  subtle  Huron,  who  still 
sat  apart,  a  wily  and  dark  observer  of  the  proceedings,  now 
knew  that  all  his  projects  must  be  brought  to  their  final 
issue.  He,  therefore,  left  the  lodge,  and  walked  silently 
forth  to  the  place,  in  front  of  the  encampment,  whither  the 
warriors  were  already  beginning  to  collect. 

It  might  have  been  half  an  hour  before  each  individual, 
including  even  the  women  and  children,  was  in  his  place. 
The  delay  had  been  created  by  the  grave  preparations  that 
were  deemed  necessary  to  so  solemn  and  unusual  a  con- 
ference. But  when  the  sun  was  seen  climbing  above  the 
tops  of  that  mountain,  against  whose  bosom  the  Delawares 
had  constructed  their  encampment,  most  were  seated;  and 
as  his  bright  rays  darted  from  behind  the  outline  of  trees 
that  fringed  the  eminence,  they  fell  upon  as  grave,  as  atten- 
tive, and  as  deeply  interested  a  multitude,  as  was  probably 
ever  before  lighted  by  his  morning  beams.  Its  number  some- 
what exceeded  a  thousand  souls. 

In  a  collection  of  so  serious  savages,  there  is  never  to  be 
found  any  impatient  aspirant  after  premature  distinction, 
standing  ready  to  move  his  auditors  to  some  hasty  and,  per 
haps,  injudicious  discussion,  in  order  that  his  own  reputa- 
tion may  be  the  gainer.     An  act  of  so  much  precipitancy 


372  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

and  presumption  would  seal  the  downfall  of  precocious  in- 
tellect for  ever.  It  rested  solely  with  the  oldest  and  most 
experienced  of  the  men  to  lay  the  subject  of  the  conference 
before  the  people.  Until  such  a  one  chose  to  make  some 
movement,  no  deeds  in  arms,  no  natural  gifts,  nor  any  re- 
nown as  an  orator,  would  have  justified  the  slightest  inter- 
ruption. On  the  present  occasion,  the  aged  warrior  whose 
privilege  it  was  to  speak,  was  silent,  seemingly  oppressed 
with  the  magnitude  of  his  subject.  The  delay  had  already 
continued  long  beyond  the  usual  deliberative  pause  that 
always  precedes  a  conference;  but  no  sign  of  impatience  or 
surprise  escaped  even  the  youngest  boy.  Occasionally,  an 
eye  was  raised  from  the  earth,  where  the  looks  of  most  were 
riveted,  and  strayed  toward  a  particular  lodge,  that  was, 
however,  in  no  manner  distinguished  from  those  around  it, 
except  in  the  peculiar  care  that  had  been  taken  to  protect  it 
against  the  assaults  of  the  weather. 

At  length,  one  of  those  low  murmurs  that  are  so  apt  to 
disturb  a  multitude,  was  heard,  and  the  whole  nation  arose 
to  their  feet  by  a  common  impulse.  At  that  instant  the 
door  of  the  lodge  in  question  opened,  and  three  men,  issuing 
from  it,  slowly  approached  the  place  of  consultation.  They 
were  all  aged,  even  beyond  that  period  to  which  the  oldest 
present  had  reached;  but  one  in  the  centre,  who  leaned  on 
his  companions  for  support,  had  numbered  an  amount  of 
years  to  which  the  human  race  is  seldom  permitted  to  attain. 
His  frame,  which  had  once  been  tall  and  erect,  like  the  ce- 
dar, was  now  bending  under  the  pressure  of  more  than  a 
century.  The  elastic,  light  step  of  an  Indian  was  gone,  and 
in  its  place  he  was  compelled  to  toil  his  tardy  way  over  the 
ground,  inch  by  inch.  His  dark,  wrinkled  countenance  was 
in  singular  and  wild  contrast  with  the  long  white  locks 
which  floated  on  his  shoulders,  in  such  thickness  as  to  an- 
nounce that  generations  had  probably  passed  away  since 
they  had  last  been  shorn. 

The  dress  of  this  patriarch — for  such,  considering  his  vast 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS.  373 

age,  in  conjunction  with  his  affinity  and  influence  with  his 
people,  he  might  very  properly  be  termed — was  rich  and 
imposing,  though  strictly  after  the  simple  fashions  of  the 
tribe.  His  robe  was  of  the  finest  skins,  which  had  been 
deprived  of  their  fur,  in  order  to  admit  of  a  hieroglyphical 
representation  of  various  deeds  in  arms,  done  in  former  ages. 
His  bosom  was  loaded  with  medals,  some  in  massive  silver, 
and  one  or  two  even  in  gold,  the  gifts  of  various  Christian 
potentates  during  the  long  period  of  his  life.  He  also  wore 
armlets,  and  cinctures  above  the  ankles,  of  the  latter  pre- 
cious metal.  His  head,  on  the  whole  of  which  the  hair  had 
been  permitted  to  grow,  the  pursuits  of  war  having  so  long 
been  abandoned,  was  encircled  by  a  sort  of  plated  diadem, 
which,  in  its  turn,  bore  lesser  and  more  glittering  ornaments, 
that  sparkled  amid  the  glossy  hues  of  three  drooping  ostrich 
feathers,  dyed  a  deep  black,  in  touching  contrast  to  the  color 
of  his  snow-white  locks.  His  tomahawk  was  nearly  hid  in 
silver,  and  the  handle  of  his  knife  shone  like  a  horn  of  solid 
gold. 

So  soon  as  the  first  hum  of  emotion  and  pleasure,  which 
the  sudden  appearance  of  this  venerated  individual  created, 
had  a  little  subsided,  the  name  of  "  Tamenund  "  was  whis- 
pered from  mouth  to  mouth.  Magua  had  often  heard  the 
fame  of  this  wise  and  just  Delaware;  a  reputation  that  even 
proceeded  so  far  as  to  bestow  on  him  the  rare  gift  of  hold- 
ing secret  communion  with  the  Great  Spirit,  and  which  has 
since  transmitted  his  name,  with  some  slight  alteration,  to 
the  white  usurpers  of  his  ancient  territory,  as  the  imaginary 
tutelar  saint  *  of  a  vast  empire.  The  Huron  chief,  therefore, 
stepped  eagerly  out  a  little  from  the  throng,  to  a  spot  whence 
he  might  catch  a  nearer  glimpse  of  the  features  of  the  man 
whose  decision  was  likely  to  produce  so  deep  an  influence 
on  his  own  fortunes. 

*  The  Americans  sometimes  call  their  tutelar  saint  Tamenay,  a  corruption  of  the 
name  of  the  renowned  chief  here  introduced.  There  are  many  traditions  which  speak 
of  the  character  and  power  of  Tamenund. 


374  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

The  eyes  of  the  old  man  were  closed,  as  though  the  organs 
were  wearied  with  having  so  long  witnessed  the  selfish  work- 
ings of  the  human  passions.  The  color  of  his  skin  differed 
from  that  of  most  around  him,  being  richer  and  darker,  the 
latter  hue  having  been  produced  by  certain  delicate  and 
mazy  lines  of  complicated  and  yet  beautiful  figures,  which 
had  been  traced  over  most  of  his  person  by  the  operation  of 
tattooing.  Notwithstanding  the  position  of  the  Huron,  he 
passed  the  observant  and  silent  Magua  without  notice,  and 
leaning  on  his  two  venerable  supporters  proceeded  to  the 
high  place  of  the  multitude,  where  he  seated  himself  in  the 
centre  of  his  nation,  with  the  dignity  of  a  monarch  and 
the  air  of  a  father. 

Nothing  could  surpass  the  reverence  and  affection  with 
which  this  unexpected  visit  from  one  who  belonged  rather 
to  another  world  than  to  this,  was  received  by  his  people. 
After  a  suitable  and  decent  pause,  the  principal  chiefs  arose; 
and  approaching  the  patriarch,  they  placed  his  hands  rever- 
ently on  their  heads,  seeming  to  entreat  a  blessing.  The 
younger  men  were  content  with  touching  his  robe,  or  even 
drawing  nigh  his  person,  in  order  to  breathe  in  the  atmos- 
phere of  one  so  aged,  so  just,  and  so  valiant.  None  but  the 
most  distinguished  among  the  youthful  warriors  even  pre- 
sumed so  far  as  to  perform  the  latter  ceremony;  the  great 
mass  of  the  multitude  deeming  it  a  sufficient  happiness  to 
look  upon  a  form  so  deeply  venerated,  and  so  well  beloved. 
When  these  acts  of  affection  and  respect  were  performed,  the 
chiefs  drew  back  again  to  their  several  places,  and  silence 
reigned  in  the  whole  encampment. 

After  a  short  delay,  a  few  of  the  young  men,  to  whom  in- 
structions had  been  whispered  by  one  of  the  aged  attendants 
of  Tamenund,  arose,  left  the  crowd,  and  entered  the  lodge 
which  has  already  been  noted  as  the  object  of  so  much  atten- 
tion throughout  that  morning.  In  a  few  minutes  they  reap- 
peared, escorting  the  individuals  who  had  caused  all  these 
solemn    preparations    toward  the  seat   of  judgment.     The 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  375 

crowd  opened  in  a  lane ;  and  when  the  party  had  re-entered, 
it  closed  in  again,  forming  a  large  and  dense  belt  of  human 
bodies,  arranged  in  an  open  circle. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 


The  assembly  seated,  rising  o'er  the  rest, 
Achilles  thus  the  king  of  men  addressed. 

Pope's  Homer. 

Cora  stood  foremost  among  the  prisoners,  entwining  her 
arms  in  those  of  Alice,  in  the  tenderness  of  sisterly  love. 
Notwithstanding  the  fearful  and  menacing  array  of  savages 
on  every  side  of  her,  no  apprehension  on  her  own  account 
could  prevent  the  noble-minded  maiden  from  keeping  her 
eyes  fastened  on  the  pale  and  anxious  features  of  the  trem- 
bling Alice.  Close  at  their  side  stood  Heyward,  with  an 
interest  in  both,  that,  at  such  a  moment  of  intense  uncer- 
tainty, scarcely  knew  a  preponderance  in  favor  of  her  whom 
he  most  loved.  Hawk-eye  had  placed  himself  a  little  in  the 
rear,  with  a  deference  to  the  superior  rank  of  his  compan- 
ions, that  no  similarity  in  the  state  of  their  present  fortunes 
could  induce  him  to  forget.     Uncas  was  not  there. 

When  perfect  silence  was  again  restored,  and  after  the 
usual  long,  impressive  pause,  one  of  the  two  aged  chiefs 
who  sat  at  the  side  of  the  patriarch  arose,  and  demanded 
aloud,  in  very  intelligible  English — 

"Which  of  my  prisoners  is  La  longue  Carabine?  " 
Neither  Duncan  nor  the  scout  answered.  The  former, 
however,  glanced  his  eyes  around  the  dark  and  silent  assem- 
bly, and  recoiled  a  pace,  when  they  fell  on  the  malignant 
visage  of  Magua.  He  saw,  at  once,  that  this  wily  savage 
had  some  secret  agency  in  their  present  arraignment  before 
the  nation,  and  determined  to  throw  every  possible  impedi- 
ment in  the  way  of  the  execution  of  his  sinister  plans.  He 
had  witnessed  one  instance  of  the  summary  punishments  of 


$j6  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

the  Indians,  and  now  dreaded  that  his  companion  was  to  be 
selected  for  a  second.  In  this  dilemma,  with  little  or  no 
time  for  reflection,  he  suddenly  determined  to  cloak  his  in- 
valuable friend,  at  any  or  every  hazard  to  himself.  Before 
he  had  time,  however,  to  speak,  the  question  was  repeated 
in  a  louder  voice,  and  with  a  clearer  utterance. 

"  Give  us  arms,"  the  young  man  haughtily  replied,  "  and 
place  us  in  yonder  woods.     Our  deeds  shall  speak  for  us!  " 

"  This  is  the  warrior  whose  name  has  filled  our  ears!  "  re- 
turned the  chief,  regarding  Heyward  with  that  sort  of  curi- 
ous interest  which  seems  inseparable  from  man,  when  first 
beholding  one  of  his  fellows  to  whom  merit  or  accident,  vir- 
tue or  crime,  has  given  notoriety.  "  What  has  brought  the 
white  man  intd  the  camp  of  the  Delawares?  " 

"  My  necessities.     I  come  for  food,  shelter,  and  friends." 

"  It  cannot  be.  The  woods  are  full  of  game.  The  head 
of  a  warrior  needs  no  other  shelter  than  a  sky  without 
clouds;  and  the  Delawares  are  the  enemies,  and  not  the 
friends,  of  the  Yengeese.  Go — the  mouth  has  spoken,  while 
the  heart  said  nothing." 

Duncan,  a  little  at  a  loss  in  what  manner  to  proceed,  re- 
mained silent;  but  the  scout,  who  had  listened  attentively 
to  all  that  passed,  now  advanced  steadily  to  the  front. 

"  That  I  did  not  answer  to  the  call  for  La  longue  Cara- 
bine, was  not  owing  either  to  shame  or  fear,"  he  said;  "for 
neither  one  nor  the  other  is  the  gift  of  an  honest  man. 
But  I  do  not  admit  the  right  of  the  Mingoes  to  bestow  a 
name  on  one  whose  friends  have  been  mindful  of  his  gifts, 
in  this  particular;  especially  as  their  title  is  a  lie,  'Kill- 
deer  '  being  a  grooved  barrel  and  no  carabyne.  I  am  the 
man,  however,  that  got  the  name  of  Nathaniel  from  my  kin; 
the  compliment  of  Hawk-eye  from  the  Delawares,  who  live 
on  their  own  river;  and  whom  the  Iroquois  have  presumed 
to  style  the  '  Long  Rifle,'  without  any  warranty  from  him 
who  is  most  concerned  in  the  matter." 

The  eyes  of  all  present,  which  had  hitherto  been  gravely 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS.  377 

scanning  the  person  of  Duncan,  were  now  turned,  on  the 
instant,  toward  the  upright  iron  frame  of  this  new  pretender 
to  the  distinguished  appellation.  It  was  in  no  degree  re- 
markable that  there  should  be  found  two  who  were  willing 
to  claim  so  great  an  honor,  for  impostors,  though  rare,  were 
not  unknown  amongst  the  natives;  but  it  was  altogether 
material  to  the  just  and  severe  intentions  of  the  Delawares, 
that  there  should  be  no  mistake  in  the  matter.  Some  of 
their  old  men  consulted  together  in  private,  and  then,  as  it 
would  seem,  they  determined  to  interrogate  their  visitor  on 
the  subject. 

"  My  brother  has  said  that  a  snake  crept  into  my  camp," 
said  the  chief  to  Magua ;  "  which  is  he  ?  " 

The  Huron  pointed  to  the  scout. 

"Will  a  wise  Delaware  believe  the  barking  of  a  wolf?  " 
exclaimed  Duncan,  still  more  confirmed  in  the  evil  inten- 
tions of  his  ancient  enemy:  "a  dog  never  lies,  but  when 
was  a  wolf  known  to  speak  the  truth  ?  " 

The  eyes  of  Magua  flashed  fire;  but,  suddenly  recollect- 
ing the  necessity  of  maintaining  his  presence  of  mind,  he 
turned  away  in  silent  disdain,  well  assured  that  the  sagacity 
of  the  Indians  would  not  fail  to  extract  the  real  merits  of 
the  point  in  controversy.  He  was  not  deceived;  for,  after 
another  short  consultation,  the  wary  Delaware  turned  to 
him  again,  and  expressed  the  determination  of  the  chiefs, 
though  in  the  most  considerate  language. 

"  My  brother  has  been  called  a  liar,"  he  said,  "  and  his 
friends  are  angry.  They  will  show  that  he  has  spoken  the 
truth.  Give  my  prisoners  guns,  and  let  them  prove  which 
is  the  man." 

Magua  affected  to  consider  the  expedient,  which  he  well 
knew  proceeded  from  distrust  of  himself,  as  a  compliment, 
and  made  a  gesture  of  acquiescence,  well  content  that  his 
veracity  should  be  supported  by  so  skilful  a  marksman  as 
the  scout.  The  weapons  were  instantly  placed  in  the  hands 
of  the  friendly  opponents,  and  they  were  bid  to  fire,  over 


3?8  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

the  heads  of  the  seated  multitude,  at  an  earthen  vessel 
which  lay,  by  accident,  on  a  stump,  some  fifty  yards  from 
the  place  where  they  stood. 

Heyward  smiled  to  himself  at  the  idea  of  a  competition 
with  the  scout,  though  he  determined  to  persevere  in  the  de- 
ception, until  apprised  of  the  real  designs  of  Magua.  Rais- 
ing his  rifle  with  the  utmost  care,  and  renewing  his  aim 
three  several  times,  he  fired.  The  bullet  cut  the  wood 
within  a  few  inches  of  the  vessel;  and  a  general  exclama- 
tion of  satisfaction  announced  that  the  shot  was  considered 
a  proof  of  great  skill  in  the  use  of  the  weapon.  Even  Hawk- 
eye  nodded  his  head,  as  if  he  would  say,  it  was  better  than 
he  had  expected.  But,  instead  of  manifesting  an  intention 
to  contend  with  the  successful  marksman,  he  stood  leaning 
on  his  rifle  for  more  than  a  minute,  like  a  man  who  was 
completely  buried  in  thought.  From  this  reverie  he  was, 
however,  awakened  by  one  of  the  young  Indians  who  had 
furnished  the  arms,  and  who  now  touched  his  shoulder,  say- 
ing, in  exceedingly  broken  English — 

"Can  the  pale-face  beat  it?  " 

"  Yes,  Huron !  "  exclaimed  the  scout,  raising  the  short 
rifle  in  his  right  hand,  and  shaking  it  at  Magua,  with  as 
much  apparent  ease  as  if  it  were  a  reed;  "yes,  Huron,  I 
could  strike  you  now,  and  no  power  of  earth  'ould  prevent 
the  deed!  The  soaring  hawk  is  not  more  certain  of  the 
dove  than  I  am  this  moment  of  you,  did  I  choose  to  send  a 
bullet  to  your  heart!  Why  should  I  not?  Why! — because 
the  gifts  of  my  color  forbid  it,  and  I  might  draw  down  evil 
on  tender  and  innocent  heads!  If  you  know  such  a  being 
as  God,  thank  him,  therefore,  in  your  inward  soul — for  you 
have  reason ! " 

The  flushed  countenance,  angry  eye,  and  swelling  figure 
of  the  scout  produced  a  sensation  of  secret  awe  in  all  that 
heard  him.  The  Delawares  held  their  breath  in  expecta- 
tion; but  Magua  himself,  even  while  he  distrusted  the  for- 
bearance   of   his   enemy,  remained    immovable  and   calm, 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  379 

where  he  stood  wedged  in  by  the  crowd,  as  one  who  grew  to 
the  spot. 

"  Beat  it,"  repeated  the  young  Delaware  at  the  elbow  of 
the  scout. 

"Beat  what;  fool! — what!" — exclaimed  Hawk-eye,  still 
flourishing  the  weapon  angrily  above  his  head,  though  his 
eye  no  longer  sought  the  person  of  Magua. 

"  If  the  white  man  is  the  warrior  he  pretends,"  said  the 
aged  chief,  "  let  him  strike  nigher  to  the  mark." 

The  scout  laughed  aloud — a  noise  that  produced  the  star- 
tling effect  of  an  unnatural  sound  on  Heyward — then  drop- 
ping the  piece,  heavily,  into  his  extended  left  hand,  it  was 
discharged,  apparently  by  the  shock,  driving  the  fragments 
of  the  vessel  into  the  air,  and  scattering  them  on  every  side. 
Almost  at  the  same  instant,  the  rattling  sound  of  the  rifle  was 
heard,  as  he  suffered  it  to  fall,  contemptuously,  to  the  earth. 

The  first  impression  of  so  strange  a  scene  was  engrossing 
admiration.  Then  a  low,  but  increasing  murmur,  ran 
through  the  multitude,  and  finally  swelled  into  sounds  that 
denoted  a  lively  opposition  in  the  sentiments  of  the  specta- 
tors. While  some  openly  testified  their  satisfaction  at  so 
unexampled  dexterity,  by  far  the  larger  portion  of  the  tribe 
were  inclined  to  believe  the  success  of  the  shot  was  the  re- 
sult of  accident.  Heyward  was  not  slow  to  confirm  an 
opinion  that  was  so  favorable  to  his  own  pretensions. 

"  It  was  chance!  "  he  exclaimed;  "none  can  shoot  with- 
out an  aim!  " 

"Chance!"  echoed  the  excited  woodsman,  who  was  now 
stubbornly  bent  on  maintaining  his  identity  at  every  hazard, 
and  on  whom  the  secret  hints  of  Heyward  to  acquiesce  in 
the  deception  were  entirely  lost.  "  Does  yonder  lying  Hu- 
ron, too,  think  it  chance?  Give  him  another  gun,  and  place 
us  face  to  face,  without  cover  or  dodge,  and  let  Providence, 
and  our  own  eyes,  decide  the  matter  atween  us!  I  do  not 
make  the  offer  to  you,  major ;  for  our  blood  is  of  a  color, 
and  we  serve  the  same  master." 


38O  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

"That  the  Huron  is  a  liar,  is  very  evident,"  returned 
Heyward,  coolly;  "you  have  yourself  heard  him  assert  you 
to  be  La  longue  Carabine." 

It  were  impossible  to  say  what  violent  assertion  the  stub- 
born Hawk-eye  would  have  next  made,  in  his  headlong  wish 
to  vindicate  his  identity,  had  not  the  aged  Delaware  once 
more  interposed. 

"The  hawk  which  comes  from  the  clouds  can  return  when 
he  will,"  he  said;  "give  them  the  guns." 

This  time  the  scout  seized  the  rifle  with  avidity;  nor  had 
Magua,  though  he  watched  the  movement  of  the  marksman 
with  jealous  eyes,  any  further  cause  for  apprehension. 

"  Now  let  it  be  proved,  in  the  face  of  this  tribe  of  Dela- 
wares,  which  is  the  better  man,"  cried  the  scout,  tapping  the 
butt  of  his  piece  with  that  finger  which  had  pulled  so  many 
fatal  triggers.  "  You  see  the  gourd  hanging  against  yonder 
tree,  major;  if  you  are  a  marksman  fit  for  the  borders,  let 
me  see  you  break  its  shell !  " 

Duncan  noted  the  object,  and  prepared  himself  to  renew 
the  (rial.  The  gourd  was  one  of  the  usual  little  vessels 
used  by  the  Indians,  and  it  was  suspended  from  a  dead 
branch  of  a  small  pine,  by  a  thong  of  deer-skin,  at  the  full 
distance  of  a  hundred  yards.  So  strangely  compounded  is 
the  feeling  of  self-love,  that  the  young  soldier,  while  he 
knew  the  utter  worthlessness  of  the  suffrages  of  his  savage 
umpires,  forgot  the  sudden  motives  of  the  contest  in  a  wish 
to  excel.  It  has  been  seen,  already,  that  his  skill  was  far 
from  being  contemptible,  and  he  now  resolved  to  put  forth 
its  nicest  qualities.  Had  his  life  depended  on  the  issue, 
the  aim  of  Duncan  could  not  have  been  more  deliberate  or 
guarded.  He  fired;  and  three  or  four  young  Indians,  who 
sprang  forward  at  the  report,  announced  with  a  shout,  that 
the  ball  was  in  the  tree,  a  very  little  on  one  side  of  the 
proper  object.  The  warriors  uttered  a  common  ejaculation 
of  pleasure,  and  then  turned  their  eyes,  inquiringly,  on  the 
movements  of  his  rival. 


THE   LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  38 1 

"  It  may  do  for  the  Royal  Americans !  "  said  Hawk-eye, 
laughing  once  more  in  his  own  silent,  heartfelt  manner; 
"  but  had  my  gun  often  turned  so  much  from  the  true  line, 
many  a  marten,  whose  skin  is  now  in  a  lady's  muff,  would 
still  be  in  the  woods;  ay,  and  many  a  bloody  Mingo,  who 
has  departed  to  his  final  account,  would  be  acting  his  devil- 
tries at  this  very  day,  atween  the  provinces.  I  hope  the 
squaw  who  owns  the  gourd  has  more  of  them  in  her  wigwam, 
for  this  will  never  hold  water  again!  " 

The  scout  had  shook  his  priming,  and  cocked  his  piece, 
while  speaking;  and,  as  he  ended,  he  threw  back  a  foot, 
and  slowly  raised  the  muzzle  from  the  earth :  the  motion 
was  steady,  uniform,  and  in  one  direction.  When  on  a  per- 
fect level,  it  remained  for  a  single  moment,  without  tremor 
or  variation,  as  though  both  man  and  rifle  were  carved  in 
stone.  During  that  stationary  instant,  it  poured  forth  its 
contents  in  a  bright,  glancing  sheet  of  flame.  Again  the 
young  Indians  bounded  forward ;  but  their  hurried  search 
and  disappointed  looks  announced  that  no  traces  of  the  bul- 
let were  to  be  seen. 

"  Go,"  said  the  old  chief  to  the  scout,  in  a  tone  of  strong 
disgust;  "thou  art  a  wolf  in  the  skin  of  a  dog.  I  will  talk 
to  the  '  Long  Rifle  '  of  the  Yengeese." 

"  Ah!  had  I  that  piece  which  furnished  the  name  you  use, 
I  would  obligate  myself  to  cut  the  thong,  and  drop  the  gourd 
without  breaking  it!  "  returned  Hawk-eye,  perfectly  undis- 
turbed by  the  other's  manner.  "  Fools,  if  you  would  find 
the  bullet  of  a  sharpshooter  of  these  woods,  you  must  look 
in  the  object  and  not  around  it!  " 

The  Indian  youths  instantly  comprehended  his  meaning 
— for  this  time  he  spoke  in  the  Delaware  tongue — and  tear- 
ing the  gourd  from  the  tree,  they  held  it  on  high  with  an 
exulting  shout,  displaying  a  hole  in  its  bottom,  which  had 
been  cut  by  the  bullet,  after  passing  through  the  usual  ori- 
fice in  the  centre  of  its  upper  side.  At  this  unexpected  ex- 
hibition, a  loud  and  vehement  expression  of  pleasure  burst 


382  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

from  the  mouth  of  every  warrior  present.  It  decided  the 
question,  and  effectually  established  Hawk-eye  in  the  pos- 
session of  his  dangerous  reputation.  Those  curious  and 
admiring  eyes  which  had  been  turned  again  on  Heyward, 
were  finally  directed  to  the  weather-beaten  form  of  the  scout, 
who  immediately  became  the  principal  object  of  attention  to 
the  simple  and  unsophisticated  beings  by  whom  he  was  sur- 
rounded. When  the  sudden  and  noisy  commotion  had  a 
little  subsided,  the  aged  chief  resumed  his  examination. 

"  Why  did  you  wish  to  stop  my  ears?  "  he  said,  addressing 
Duncan ;  "  are  the  Delawares  fools,  that  they  could  not  know 
the  young  panther  from  the  cat?  " 

"  They  will  yet  find  the  Huron  a  singing-bird,"  said  Dun- 
can, endeavoring  to  adopt  the  figurative  language  of  the 
natives. 

"  It  is  good.     We  will  know  who  can  shut  the  ears  of 
men.     Brother,"  added  the  chief,  turning  his  eyes  on   Ma 
gua,  "  the  Delawares  listen." 

Thus  singled,  and  directly  called  on  to  declare  his  object, 
the  Huron  arose;  and  advancing  with  great  deliberation  and 
dignity,  into  the  very  centre  of  the  circle,  where  he  stood 
confronted  to  the  prisoners,  he  placed  himself  in  an  attitude 
to  speak.  Before  opening  his  mouth,  however,  he  bent  his 
eyes  slowly  along  the  whole  living  boundary  of  earnest 
faces,  as  if  to  temper  his  expressions  to  the  capacities  of 
his  audience.  On  Hawk-eye  he  cast  a  glance  of  respectful 
enmity;  on  Duncan,  a  look  of  inextinguishable  hatred;  the 
shrinking  figure  of  Alice  he  scarcely  deigned  to  notice;  but 
when  his  glance  met  the  firm,  commanding,  and  yet  lovely 
form  of  Cora,  his  eye  lingered  a  moment,  with  an  expres- 
sion that  it  might  have  been  difficult  to  define.  Then,  filled 
with  his  own  dark  intentions,  he  spoke  in  the  language  of 
the  Canadas,  a  tongue  that  he  well  knew  was  comprehended 
by  most  of  his  auditors. 

"  The  Spirit  that  made  men  colored  them  differently," 
commenced  the  subtle  Huron.     "  Some  are  blacker  than  the 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  383 

sluggish  bear.  These  he  said  should  be  slaves;  and  he 
ordered  them  to  work  forever,  like  the  beaver.  You  may- 
hear  them  groan,  when  the  south  wind  blows,  louder  than 
the  lowing  buffaloes,  along  the  shores  of  the  great  salt  lake, 
where  the  big  canoes  come  and  go  with  them  in  droves. 
Some  he  made  with  faces  paler  than  the  ermine  of  the  for- 
ests: and  these  he  ordered  to  be  traders;  dogs  to  their 
women,  and  wolves  to  their  slaves.  He  gave  this  people 
the  nature  of  the  pigeon  ;  wings  that  never  tire :  young,  more 
plentiful  than  the  leaves  on  the  trees,  and  appetites  to  de- 
vour the  earth.  He  gave  them  tongues  like  the  false  call 
of  the  wild-cat;  hearts  like  rabbits;  the  cunning  of  the  hog 
(but  none  of  the  fox),  and  arms  longer  than  the  legs  of  the 
moose.  With  his  tongue,  he  stops  the  ears  of  the  Indians; 
his  heart  teaches  him  to  pay  warriors  to  fight  his  battles; 
his  cunning  tells  him  how  to  get  together  the  goods  of  the 
earth;  and  his  arms  inclose  the  land  from  the  shores  of  the 
salt-water  to  the  islands  of  the  great  lake.  His  gluttony 
makes  him  sick.  God  gave  him  enough,  and  yet  he  wants 
all.     Such  are  the  pale-faces. 

"  Some  the  Great  Spirit  made  with  skins  brighter  and 
redder  than  yonder  sun,"  continued  Magua,  pointing  im- 
pressively upward  to  the  lurid  luminary,  which  was  strug- 
gling through  the  misty  atmosphere  of  the  horizon,  "and 
these  did  he  fashion  to  his  own  mind.  He  gave  them  this 
island  as  he  had  made  it,  covered  with  trees,  and  filled  with 
game.  The  wind  made  their  clearings;  the  sun  and  rains 
ripened  their  fruits;  and  the  snows  came  to  tell  them  to  be 
thankful.  What  need  had  they  of  roads  to  journey  by! 
They  saw  through  the  hills!  When  the  beavers  worked, 
they  lay  in  the  shade,  and  looked  on.  The  winds  cooled 
them  in  summer;  in  winter,  skins  kept  them  warm.  If  they 
fought  among  themselves,  it  was  to  prove  that  they  were 
men.     They  were  brave;  they  were  just;  they  were  happy." 

Here  the  speaker  paused,  and  again  looked  around  him, 
to  discover  if  his  legend  had  touched  the  sympathies  of  his 


384  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

listeners.  He  met  everywhere  with  eyes  riveted  on  his  own, 
heads  erect,  and  nostrils  expanded,  as  if  each  individual 
present  felt  himself  able  and  willing,  singly,  to  redress  the 
wrongs  of  his  race. 

"  If  the  Great  Spirit  gave  different  tongues  to  his  red  chil- 
dren," he  continued,  in  a  low,  still  melancholy  voice,  "  it 
was  that  all  animals  might  understand  them.  Some  he 
placed  among  the  snows,  with  their  cousin  the  bear.  Some 
he  placed  near  the  setting  sun,  on  the  road  to  the  happy 
hunting  grounds.  Some  on  the  lands  around  the  great  fresh 
waters;  but  to  his  greatest,  and  most  beloved,  he  gave  the 
sands  of  the  salt  lake.  Do  my  brothers  know  the  name  of 
this  favored  people?  " 

"It  was  the  Lenape!  "  exclaimed  twenty  eager  voices,  in 
a  breath. 

"  It  was  the  Lenni  Lenape,"  returned  Magua,  affecting  to 
bend  his  head  in  reverence  to  their  former  greatness.  "  It 
was  the  tribes  of  the  Lenape !  The  sun  rose  from  water 
that  was  salt,  and  set  in  water  that  was  sweet,  and  never  hid 
himself  from  their  eyes.  But  why  should  I,  a  Huron  of  the 
woods,  tell  a  wise  people  their  own  traditions?  Why  re- 
mind them  of  their  injuries;  their  ancient  greatness ;  their 
deeds;  their  glory;  their  happiness: — their  losses;  their 
defeats;  their  misery?  Is  there  not  one  among  them  who 
has  seen  it  all,  and  who  knows  it  to  be  true?  I  have  done. 
My  tongue  is  still,  for  my  heart  is  of  lead.     I  listen." 

As  the  voice  of  the  speaker  suddenly  ceased,  every  face 
and  all  eyes  turned,  by  a  common  movement,  toward  the 
venerable  Tamenund.  From  the  moment  that  he  took  his 
seat,  until  the  present  instant,  the  lips  of  the  patriarch  had 
not  severed,  and  scarcely  a  sign  of  life  had  escaped  him. 
He  sat  bent  in  feebleness,  and  apparently  unconscious  of 
the  presence  he  was  in,  during  the  whole  of  that  opening 
scene,  in  which  the  skill  of  the  scout  had  been  so  clearly 
established.  At  the  nicely  graduated  sounds  of  Magua's 
voice,  however,  he  betrayed  some  evidence  of  consciousness 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  385 

and  once  or  twice  he  even  raised  his  head,  as  if  to  listen. 
But  when  the  crafty  Huron  spoke  of  his  nation  by  name,  the 
eyelids  of  the  old  man  raised  themselves,  and  he  looked  out 
upon  the  multitude  with  that  sort  of  dull  unmeaning  expres- 
sion which  might  be  supposed  to  belong  to  the  countenance 
of  a  spectre.  Then  he  made  an  effort  to  rise,  and  being 
upheld  by  his  supporters,  he  gained  his  feet,  in  a  posture 
commanding  by  its  dignity,  while  he  tottered  with  weak- 
ness. 

"Who  calls  upon  the  children  of  the  Lenape!  "  he  said, 
in  a  deep,  guttural  voice,  that  was  rendered  awfully  audible 
by  the  breathless  silence  of  the  multitude :  "  who  speaks  of 
things  gone!  Does  not  the  egg  become  a  worm — the  worm 
a  fly,  and  perish?  Why  tell  the  Delawares  of  good  that  is 
past?     Better  thank  the  Manitto  for  that  which  remains." 

"  It  is  a  Wyandot,"  said  Magua,  stepping  nigher  to  the 
rude  platform  on  which  the  other  stood;  "a  friend  of 
Tamenund." 

"  A  friend !  "  repeated  the  sage,  on  whose  brow  a  dark 
frown  settled,  imparting  a  portion  of  that  severity  which  had 
rendered  his  eye  so  terrible  in  middle  age — "  Are  the  Min- 
goes  rulers  of  the  earth?      What  brings  a  Huron  here?  " 

"  Justice.  His  prisoners  are  with  his  brothers,  and  he 
comes  for  his  own." 

Tamenund  turned  his  head  toward  one  of  his  supporters, 
and  listened  to  the  short  explanation  the  man  gave.  Then 
facing  the  applicant,  he  regarded  him  a  moment  with  deep 
attention;  after  which  he  said,  in  a  low  and  reluctant  voice: 

"Justice  is  the  law  of  the  great  Manitto.  My  children, 
give  the  stranger  food.  Then,  Huron,  take  thine  own  and 
depart." 

On  the  delivery  of  this  solemn  judgment,  the  patriarch 
seated  himself,  and  closed  his  eyes  again,  as  if  better  pleased 
with  the  images  of  his  own  ripened  experience  than  with  the 
visible  objects  of  the  world.  Against  such  a  decree  there 
was  no  Delaware  sufficiently  hardy  to  murmur,  much  less 

25 


386  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

oppose  himself.  The  words  were  barely  uttered  when  four 
or  five  of  the  younger  warriors,  stepping  behind  Heyward  and 
the  scout,  passed  thongs  so  dexterously  and  rapidly  around 
their  arms,  as  to  hold  them  both  in  instant  bondage.  The 
former  was  too  much  engrossed  with  his  precious  and  nearly 
insensible  burden,  to  be  aware  of  their  intentions  before 
they  were  executed;  and  the  latter,  who  considered  even  the 
hostile  tribes  of  the  Delawares  a  superior  race  of  beings, 
submitted  without  resistance.  Perhaps,  however,  the  man- 
ner of  the  scout  would  not  have  been  so  passive,  had  he  fully 
comprehended  the  language  in  which  the  preceding  dialogue 
had  been  conducted. 

Magua  cast  a  look  of  triumph  around  the  whole  assembly 
before  he  proceeded  to  the  execution  of  his  purpose.  Per- 
ceiving that  the  men  were  unable  to  offer  any  resistance,  he 
turned  his  looks  on  her  he  valued  most.  Cora  met  his  gaze 
with  an  eye  so  calm  and  firm,  that  his  resolution  wavered. 
Then  recollecting  his  former  artifice,  he  raised  Alice  from 
the  arms  of  the  warrior  against  whom  she  leaned,  and  beck- 
oning Heyward  to  follow,  he  motioned  for  the  encircling 
crowd  to  open.  But  Cora,  instead  of  obeying  the  impulse 
he  had  expected,  rushed  to  the  feet  of  the  patriarch,  and 
raising  her  voice,  exclaimed  aloud: — 

"Just  and  venerable  Delaware,  on  thy  wisdom  and  power 
we  lean  for  mercy!  Be  deaf  to  yonder  artful  and  remorse- 
less monster,  who  poisons  thy  ears  with  falsehoods  to  feed 
his  thirst  for  blood.  Thou  that  has  lived  long,  and  that 
hast  seen  the  evil  of  the  world,  should  know  how  to  temper 
its  calamities  to  the  miserable." 

The  eyes  of  the  old  man  opened  heavily,  and  he  once 
more  looked  upward  at  the  multitude.  As  the  piercing 
tones  of  the  supplicant  swelled  on  his  ears,  they  moved 
slowly  in  the  direction  of  her  person,  and  finally  settled  there 
in  a  steady  gaze.  Cora  had  cast  herself  to  her  knees;  and, 
with  hands  clenched  in  each  other  and  pressed  upon  her 
bosom,  she  remained  like  a  beauteous  and  breathing  model 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  387 

of  her  sex,  looking  up  in  his  faded  but  majestic  countenance, 
with  a  species  of  holy  reverence.  Gradually  the  expression 
of  Tamenund's  features  changed,  and  losing  their  vacancy 
in  admiration,  they  lighted  with  a  portion  of  that  intelligence 
which  a  century  before  had  been  wont  to  communicate  his 
youthful  fire  to  the  extensive  bands  of  the  Delawares.  Ris- 
ing without  assistance,  and  seemingly  without  an  effort,  he 
demanded,  in  a  voice  that  startled  its  auditors  by  its  firm- 
ness— 

"What  art  thou?" 

"  A  woman.  One  of  a  hated  race,  if  thou  wilt — a  Yengee. 
But  one  who  has  never  harmed  thee,  and  who  cannot  harm 
thy  people,  if  she  would;  who  asks  for  succor." 

"  Tell  me,  my  children,"  continued  the  patriarch,  hoarsely, 
motioning  to  those  around  him,  though  his  eyes  still  dwelt 
upon  the  kneeling  form  of  Cora,  "  where  have  the  Delawares 
camped  ?  " 

"  In  the  mountains  of  the  Iroquois,  beyond  the  clear 
springs  of  the  Horican." 

"  Many  parching  summers  are  come  and  gone,"  continued 
the  sage,  "  since  I  drank  of  the  waters  of  my  own  river. 
The  children  of  Minquon  *  are  the  justest  white  men;  but 
they  were  thirsty,  and  they  took  it  to  themselves.  Do  they 
follow  us  so  far?  " 

"We  follow  none;    we  covet  nothing,"  answered  Cora. 
"  Captives  against  our  wills,  have  we  been  brought  amongst 
you;  and  we  ask  but  permission  to  depart  to  our  own   in 
peace.    Art  thou  not  Tamenund — the  father — the  judge — I 
had  almost  said,  the  prophet — of  this  people  ?  " 

"  I  am  Tamenund  of  many  days." 

"  'Tis  now  some  seven  years  that  one  of  thy  people  was 

*  William  Penn  was  termed  Minquon  by  the  Delawares,  and,  as  he  never  used  vio- 
lence or  injustice  in  his  dealings  with  them,  his  reputation  for  probity  passed  into  a 
proverb.  The  American  is  justly  proud  of  the  origin  of  his  nation,  which  is  perhaps 
unequalled  in  the  history  of  the  world  ;  but  the  Pennsylvanian  and  Jerseyman  have 
more  reason  to  value  themselves  in  their  ancestors  than  the  natives  of  any  other  State, 
since  no  wrong  was  done  the  original  owners  of  the  soil. 


388  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

at  the  mercy  of  a  white  chief  on  the  borders  of  this  province. 
He  claimed  to  be  of  the  blood  of  the  good  and  just  Tame- 
nund.  '  Go,'  said  the  white  man,  •  for  thy  parent's  sake  thou 
art  free.'  Dost  thou  remember  the  name  of  that  English 
warrior?  " 

"  I  remember,  that  when  a  laughing  boy,"  returned  the  pa- 
triarch, with  the  peculiar  recollection  of  vast  age,  "  I  stood 
upon  the  sands  of  the  sea-shore,  and  saw  a  big  canoe  with 
wings  whiter  than  the  swan's,  and  wider  than  many  eagles, 
come  from  the  rising  sun. " 

"  Nay,  nay ;  I  speak  not  of  a  time  so  very  distant,  but  of 
favor  shown  to  thy  kindred  by  one  of  mine,  within  the  mem- 
ory of  thy  youngest  warrior." 

"  Was  it  when  the  Yengeese  and  the  Dutchmanne  fought 
for  the  hunting  grounds  of  the  Delawares?  Then  Tame- 
nund  was  a  chief,  and  first  laid  aside  the  bow  for  the  light- 
ning of  the  pale-faces " 

"  Nor  yet  then,"  interrupted  Cora,  "  by  many  ages ;  I  speak 
of  a  thing  of  yesterday.     Surely,  surely,  you  forget  it  not." 

"  It  was  but  yesterday,"  rejoined  the  aged  man  with  touch- 
ing pathos,  "that  the  children  of  the  Lenape  were  masters  of 
the  world.  The  fishes  of  the  salt  lake,  the  birds,  the  beasts, 
and  the  Mengwee  of  the  woods,  owned  them  for  Sagamores." 

Cora  bowed  her  head  in  disappointment,  and,  for  a  bitter 
moment,  struggled  with  her  chagrin.  Then  elevating  her 
rich  features  and  beaming  eyes,  she  continued,  in  tones 
scarcely  less  penetrating  than  the  unearthly  voice  of  the 
patriarch  himself — 

"Tell  me,  is  Tamenund  a  father?  " 

The  old  man  looked  down  upon  her  from  his  elevated 
stand,  with  a  benignant  smile  on  his  wasted  countenance, 
and  then  casting  his  eyes  slowly  over  the  whole  assemblage, 
he  answered — 

"Of  a  nation." 

"  For  myself  I  ask  nothing.  Like  thee  and  thine,  vener- 
able chief,"  she  continued,  pressing  her  hands  convulsively 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  389 

on  her  heart,  and  suffering  her  head  to  droop  until  her  burn- 
ing cheeks  were  nearly  concealed  in  the  maze  of  dark  glossy 
tresses  that  fell  in  disorder  upon  her  shoulders,  "  the  curse 
of  my  ancestors  has  fallen  heavily  on  their  child.  But  yon- 
der is  one  who  has  never  known  the  weight  of  Heaven's  dis- 
pleasure until  now.  She  is  the  daughter  of  an  old  and  fail- 
ing man,  whose  days  are  near  their  close.  She  has  many, 
very  many,  to  love  her,  and  delight  in  her;  and  she  is  too 
good,  much  too  precious,  to  become  the  victim  of  that 
villain." 

"  I  know  that  the  pale-faces  are  a  proud  and  hungry  race. 
I  know  that  they  claim  not  only  to  have  the  earth,  but  that 
the  meanest  of  their  color  is  better  than  the  Sachems  of  the 
red  man.  The  dogs  and  crows  of  their  tribes,"  continued 
the  earnest  old  chieftain,  without  heeding  the  wounded 
spirit  of  his  listener,  whose  head  was  nearly  crushed  to  the 
earth  in  shame,  as  he  proceeded,  "  would  bark  and  caw  be- 
fore they  would  take  a  woman  to  their  wigwams  whose  blood 
was  not  of  the  color  of  snow.  But  let  them  not  boast  before 
the  face  of  the  Manitto  too  loud.  They  entered  the  land  at 
the  rising,  and  may  yet  go  off  at  the  setting  sun.  I  have 
often  seen  the  locusts  strip  the  leaves  from  the  trees,  but  the 
season  of  blossoms  has  always  come  again." 

"  It  is  so,"  said  Cora,  drawing  a  long  breath,  as  if  reviv- 
ing from  a  trance,  raising  her  face,  and  shaking  back  her 
shining  veil,  with  a  kindling  eye,  that  contradicted  the 
death-like  paleness  of  her  countenance;  "but  why — it  is 
not  permitted  us  to  inquire.  There  is  yet  one  of  thine  own 
people  who  has  not  been  brought  before  thee ;  before  thou 
lettest  the  Huron  depart  in  triumph,  hear  him  speak." 

Observing  Tamenund  to  look  about  him  doubtingly,  one 
of  his  companions  said — 

"It  is  a  snake — a  red-skin  in  the  pay  of  the  Yengeese. 
We  keep  him  for  the  torture." 

"  Let  him  come,"  returned  the  sage. 

Then  Tamenund  once  more   sank  into  his  seat,  and  a 


390  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

silence  so  deep  prevailed,  while  the  young  men  prepared  to 
obey  his  simple  mandate,  that  the  leaves,  which  fluttered  in 
the  draught  of  the  light  morning  air,  were  distinctly  heard 
rustling  in  the  surrounding  forest. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 


If  you  deny  me,  fie  upon  your  law  ! 
There  is  no  force  in  the  decrees  of  Venice ; 
I  stand  for  judgment ;  answer,  shall  I  have  it  ? 

Shakespeare. 

The  silence  continued  unbroken  by  human  sounds  for 
many  anxious  minutes.  Then  the  waving  multitude  opened 
and  shut  again,  and  Uncas  stood  in  the  living  circle.  All 
those  eyes,  which  had  been  curiously  studying  the  linea- 
ments of  the  sage,  as  the  source  of  their  own  intelligence, 
turned  on  the  instant,  and  were  now  bent  in  secret  admira- 
tion on  the  erect,  agile,  and  faultless  person  of  the  captive. 
But  neither  the  presence  in  which  he  found  himself,  nor  the 
exclusive  attention  that  he  attracted,  in  any  manner  dis- 
turbed the  self-possession  of  the  young  Mohican.  He  cast 
a  deliberate  and  observing  look  on  every  side  of  him,  meet- 
ing the  settled  expression  of  hostility  that  lowered  in  the 
visages  of  the  chiefs,  with  the  same  calmness  as  the  curious 
gaze  of  the  attentive  children.  But  when,  last  in  his 
haughty  scrutiny,  the  person  of  Tamenund  came  under  his 
glance,  his  eye  became  fixed,  as  though  all  other  objects 
were  already  forgotten.  Then  advancing  with  a  slow  and 
noiseless  step  up  the  area,  he  placed  himself  immediately 
before  the  footstool  of  the  sage.  Here  he  stood  unnoted, 
though  keenly  observant  himself,  until  one  of  the  chiefs  ap- 
prised the  latter  of  his  presence. 

"  With  what  tongue  does  the  prisoner  speak  to  the  Man- 
itto?  "  demanded  the  patriarch,  without  unclosing  his  eyes. 

"  Like  his  fathers,"  Uncas  replied;  "  with  the  tongue  of  a 
Delaware." 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  39 1 

At  this  sudden  and  unexpected  annunciation,  a  low,  fierce 
yell  ran  through  the  multitude,  that  might  not  inaptly  be 
compared  to  the  growl  of  the  lion,  as  his  choler  is  first 
awakened — a  fearful  omen  of  the  weight  of  his  future  anger. 
The  effect  was  equally  strong  on  the  sage,  though  differently 
exhibited.  He  passed  a  hand  before  his  eyes,  as  if  to  ex- 
clude the  least  evidence  of  so  shameful  a  spectacle,  while 
he  repeated,  in  his  low,  guttural  tones,  the  words  he  had  just 
heard. 

"  A  Delaware !  I  have  lived  to  see  the  tribes  of  the  Len- 
ape  driven  from  their  council  fires,  and  scattered,  like  brok- 
en herds  of  deer,  among  the  hills  of  the  Iroquois!  I  have 
seen  the  hatchets  of  a  strange  people  sweep  woods  from  the 
valleys,  that  the  winds  of  Heaven  had  spared !  The  beasts 
that  run  on  the  mountains,  and  the  birds  that  fly  above  the 
trees,  have  I  seen  living  in  the  wigwams  of  men;  but  never 
before  have  I  found  a  Delaware  so  base  as  to  creep,  like  a 
poisonous  serpent,  into  the  camps  of  his  nation." 

"The  singing-birds  have  opened  their  bills,"  returned 
Uncas,  in  the  softest  notes  of  his  own  musical  voice ;  "  and 
Tamenund  has  heard  their  song." 

The  sage  started,  and  bent  his  head  aside,  as  if  to  catch 
the  fleeting  sounds  of  some  passing  melody. 

"  Does  Tamenund  dream !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  What  voice 
is  at  his  ear!  Have  the  winters  gone  backward!  Will 
summer  come  again  to  the  children  of  the  Lenape !  " 

A  solemn  and  respectful  silence  succeeded  this  incoher- 
ent burst  from  the  lips  of  the  Delaware  prophet.  His  peo- 
ple readily  construed  his  unintelligible  language  into  one 
of  those  mysterious  conferences  he  was  believed  to  hold  so 
frequently  with  a  superior  intelligence,  and  they  awaited  the 
issue  of  the  revelation  in  awe.  After  a  patient  pause,  how- 
ever, one  of  the  aged  men,  perceiving  that  the  sage  had  lost 
the  recollection  of  the  subject  before  them,  ventured  to  re- 
mind him  again  of  the  presence  of  the  prisoner. 

"  The  false    Delaware    trembles  lest  he  should  hear  the 


392  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

words  of  Tamenund,"  he  said.  "  'Tis  a  hound  that  howls, 
when  the  Yengeese  show  him  a  trail." 

"And  ye,"  returned  Uncas,  looking  sternly  around  him, 
"  are  dogs  that  whine,  when  the  Frenchman  casts  ye  the 
offals  of  his  deer!  " 

Twenty  knives  gleamed  in  the  air,  and  as  many  warriors 
sprang  to  their  feet,  at  this  biting,  and  perhaps  merited,  re- 
tort; but  a  motion  from  one  of  the  chiefs  suppressed  the 
outbreaking  of  their  tempers,  and  restored  the  appearance 
of  quiet.  The  task  might  probably  have  been  more  difficult, 
had  not  a  movement  made  by  Tamenund  indicated  that  he 
was  again  about  to  speak. 

"Delaware!"  resumed  the  sage,  "little  art  thou  worthy 
of  thy  name.  My  people  have  not  seen  a  bright  sun  in  many 
winters;  and  the  warrior  who  deserts  his  tribe  when  hid  in 
clouds  is  doubly  a  traitor.  The  law  of  the  Manitto  is  just. 
It  is  so;  while  the  rivers  run  and  the  mountains  stand,  while 
the  blossoms  come  and  go  on  the  trees,  it  must  be  so.  He 
is  thine,  my  children;  deal  justly  by  him." 

Not  a  limb  was  moved,  nor  was  a  breath  drawn  louder  and 
longer  than  common,  until  the  closing  syllable  of  this  final 
decree  had  passed  the  lips  of  Tamenund.  Then  a  cry  of 
vengeance  burst  at  once,  as  it  might  be,  from  the  united  lips 
of  the  nation;  a  frightful  augury  of  their  ruthless  inten- 
tions. In  the  midst  of  these  prolonged  and  savage  yells,  a 
chief  proclaimed,  in  a  high  voice,  that  the  captive  was  con- 
demned to  endure  the  dreadful  trial  of  torture  by  fire.  The 
circle  broke  its  order,  and  screams  of  delight  mingled  with 
the  bustle  and  tumult  of  preparation.  Heyward  struggled 
madly  with  his  captors;  the  anxious  eyes  of  Hawk-eye  be- 
gan to  look  around  him,  with  an  expression  of  peculiar 
earnestness ;  and  Cora  again  threw  herself  at  the  feet  of  the 
patriarch,  once  more  a  suppliant  for  mercy. 

Throughout  the  whole  of  these  trying  moments,  Uncas 
had  alone  preserved  his  serenity.  He  looked  on  the  prepa- 
rations with  a  steady  eye,  and  when  the  tormenters  came  to 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  393 

seize  him,  he  met  them  with  a  firm  and  upright  attitude. 
One  among  them,  if  possible,  more  fierce  and  savage  than 
his  fellows,  seized  the  hunting  shirt  of  the  young  warrior, 
and  at  a  single  effort  tore  it  from  his  body.  Then,  with  a 
yell  of  frantic  pleasure,  he  leaped  toward  his  unresisting 
victim,  and  prepared  to  lead  him  to  the  stake.  But,  at  that 
moment,  when  he  appeared  most  a  stranger  to  the  feelings 
of  humanity,  the  purpose  of  the  savage  was  arrested  as  sud- 
denly as  if  a  supernatural  agency  had  interposed  in  the  be- 
half of  Uncas.  The  eye-balls  of  the  Delaware  seemed  to 
start  from  their  sockets;  his  mouth  opened,  and  his  whole 
form  became  frozen  in  an  attitude  of  amazement.  Raising 
his  hand  with  a  slow  and  regulated  motion,  he  pointed  with 
a  finger  to  the  bosom  of  the  captive.  His  companions 
crowded  about  him  in  wonder,  and  every  eye  was,  like  his 
own,  fastened  intently  on  the  figure  of  a  small  tortoise,  beau- 
tifully tattooed  on  the  breast  of  the  prisoner,  in  a  bright 
blue  tint. 

For  a  single  instant  Uncas  enjoyed  his  triumph,  smiling 
calmly  on  the  scene.  Then  motioning  the  crowd  away  with 
a  high  and  haughty  sweep  of  his  arm,  he  advanced  in  front 
of  the  nation  with  the  air  of  a  king,  and  spoke  in  a  voice 
louder  than  the  murmur  of  admiration  that  ran  through  the 
multitude. 

"  Men  of  the  Lenni  Lenape!  "  he  said,  "my  race  upholds 
the  earth !  Your  feeble  tribe  stands  on  my  shell !  What 
fire  that  a  Delaware  can  light  would  burn  the  child  of  my 
fathers?"  he  added,  pointing  proudly  to  the  simple  blazonry 
on  his  skin;  "the  blood  that  came  from  such  a  stock  would 
smother  your  flames!  My  race  is  the  grandfather  of  na- 
tions!" 

"  Who  art  thou  ?  "  demanded  Tamenund,  rising  at  the 
startling  tones  he  heard,  more  than  at  any  meaning  conveyed 
by  the  language  of  the  prisoner. 

"  Uncas,  the  son  of  Chingachgook,"  answered  the  captive 
modestly,  turning  from  the  nation,  and  bending  his  head  in 


394  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

reverence  to  the  other's  character  and  years ;  "  a  son  of  the 
great  Unamis."  * 

"The  hour  of  Tamenund  is  nigh!  "  exclaimed  the  sage; 
"the  day  is  come,  at  last,  to  the  night!  I  thank  the  Man- 
itto,  that  one  is  here  to  fill  my  place  at  the  council-fire. 
Uncas,  the  child  of  Uncas,  is  found!  Let  the  eyes  of  a 
dying  eagle  gaze  on  the  rising  sun." 

The  youth  stepped  lightly,  but  proudly,  on  the  platform, 
where  he  became  visible  to  the  whole  agitated  and  wondering 
multitude.  Tamenund  held  him  long  at  the  length  of  his  arm, 
and  read  every  turn  in  the  fine  lineaments  of  his  countenance, 
with  the  untiring  gaze  of  one  who  recalled  days  of  happiness. 

"Is  Tamenund  a  boy?  "  at  length  the  bewildered  prophet 
exclaimed.  "  Have  I  dreamt  of  so  many  snows — that  my 
people  were  scattered  like  floating  sands — of  Yengeese, 
more  plenty  than  the  leaves  on  the  trees !  The  arrow  of 
Tamenund  would  not  frighten  the  fawn ;  his  arm  is  withered 
like  the  branch  of  a  dead  oak;  the  snail  would  be  swifter 
in  the  race ;  yet  is  Uncas  before  him  as  they  went  to  battle 
against  the  pale-faces!  Uncas,  the  panther  of  his  tribe,  the 
eldest  son  of  the  Lenape,  the  wisest  Sagamore  of  the  Mo- 
hicans! Tell  me,  ye  Delawares,  has  Tamenund  been  a 
sleeper  for  a  hundred  winters?  " 

The  calm  and  deep  silence  which  succeeded  these  words 
sufficiently  announced  the  awful  reverence  with  which  his 
people  received  the  communication  of  the  patriarch.  None 
dared  to  answer,  though  all  listened  in  breathless  expecta- 
tion of  what  might  follow.  Uncas,  however,  looking  in  his 
face  with  the  fondness  and  veneration  of  a  favored  child, 
presumed  on  his  own  high  and  acknowledged  rank  to  reply. 

"  Four  warriors  of  his  race  have  lived,  and  died,"  he  said, 
"  since  the  friend  of  Tamenund  led  his  people  in  battle. 
The  blood  of  the  turtle  has  been  in  many  chiefs,  but  all 
have  gone  back  into  the  earth  from  whence  they  came  ex- 
cept Chingachgook  and  his  son." 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  395 

"It  is  true — it  is  true,"  returned  the  sage — a  flash  of 
recollection  destroying  all  his  pleasing  fancies,  and  restoring 
him  at  once  to  a  consciousness  of  the  true  history  of  his  na- 
tion. "  Our  wise  men  have  often  said  that  two  warriors  of 
the  unchanged  race  were  in  the  hills  of  the  Yengeese;  why 
have  their  seats  at  the  council  fires  of  the  Delawares  been 
so  long  empty?  " 

At  these  words  the  young  man  raised  his  head,  which  he 
had  still  kept  bowed  a  little,  in  reverence;  and  lifting  his 
voice  so  as  to  be  heard  by  the  multitude,  as  if  to  explain  at 
once  and  for  ever  the  policy  of  his  family,  he  said  aloud — 

"Once  we  slept  where  we  could  hear  the  salt  lake  speak 
in  its  anger.  Then  we  were  rulers  and  Sagamores  over  the 
land.  But  when  a  pale-face  was  seen  on  every  brook,  we 
followed  the  deer  back  to  the  river  of  our  nation.  The 
Delawares  were  gone.  Few  warriors  of  them  all  stayed  to 
drink  of  the  stream  they  loved.  Then  said  my  fathers, 
'  Here  will  we  hunt.  The  waters  of  the  river  go  into  the  salt 
lake.  If  we  go  toward  the  setting  sun,  we  shall  find  streams 
that  run  into  the  great  lakes  of  sweet  water;  there  would  a 
Mohican  die,  like  fishes  of  the  sea,  in  the  clear  springs. 
When  the  Manitto  is  ready,  and  shall  say  "  come,"  we  will 
follow  the  river  to  the  sea,  and  take  our  own  again.'  Such, 
Delawares,  is  the  belief  of  the  children  of  the  Turtle.  Our 
eyes  are  on  the  rising,  and  not  toward  the  setting  sun.  We 
know  whence  he  comes,  but  we  know  not  whither  he  goes. 
It  is  enough." 

The  men  of  the  Lenape  listened  to  his  words  with  all  the 
respect  that  superstition  could  lend,  finding  a  secret  charm 
even  in  the  figurative  language  with  which  the  young  Saga- 
more imparted  his  ideas.  Uncas  himself  watched  the  effect 
of  his  brief  explanation  with  intelligent  eyes,  and  gradually 
dropped  the  air  of  authority  he  had  assumed,  as  he  perceived 
that  his  auditors  were  content.  Then  permitting  his  looks 
to  wander  over  the  silent  throng  that  crowded  around  the 
elevated  seat  of  Tamenund,  he  first  perceived  Hawk-eye  in 


396  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

his  bonds.  Stepping  eagerly  from  his  stand,  he  made  way 
for  himself  to  the  side  of  his  friend;  and  cutting  his  thongs 
with  a  quick  and  angry  stroke  of  his  own  knife,  he  motioned 
to  the  crowd  to  divide.  The  Indians  silently  obeyed,  and 
once  more  they  stood  ranged  in  their  circle,  as  before  his 
appearance  among  them.  Uncas  took  the  scout  by  the 
hand,  and  led  him  to  the  feet  of  the  patriarch. 

"Father,"  he  said,  "look  at  this  pale-face;  a  just  man, 
and  the  friend  of  the  Delawares." 

"  Is  he  a  son  of  Minquon  ?  " 

"  Not  so ;  a  warrior  known  to  the  Yengeese,  and  feared 
by  the  Maquas." 

"  What  name  has  he  gained  by  his  deeds?  " 

"We  call  him  Hawk-eye,"  Uncas  replied,  using  the  Del- 
aware phrase;  "for  his  sight  never  fails.  The  Mingoes 
known  him  better  by  the  death  he  gives  their  warriors :  with 
them  he  is  '  The  long  Rifle.'  " 

"La  longue  Carabine!"  exclaimed  Tamenund,  opening 
his  eyes,  and  regarding  the  scout  sternly.  "  My  son  has 
not  done  well  to  call  him  friend." 

"  I  call  him  so  who  proves  himself  such,"  returned  the 
young  chief,  with  great  calmness,  but  with  a  steady  mien. 
"  If  Uncas  is  welcome  among  the  Delawares,  then  is  Hawk- 
eye  with  his  friends." 

"The  pale-face  has  slain  my  young  men;  his  name  is 
great  for  the  blows  he  has  struck  the  Lenape." 

"  If  a  Mingo  has  whispered  that  much  in  the  ear  of  the 
Delaware,  he  has  only  shown  that  he  is  a  singing-bird," 
said  the  scout,  who  now  believed  that  it  was  time  to  vindi- 
cate himself  from  such  offensive  charges,  and  who  spoke  in 
the  tongue  of  the  man  he  addressed,  modifying  his  Indian 
figures,  however,  with  his  own  peculiar  notions.  "  That  I 
have  slain  the  Maquas  I  am  not  the  man  to  deny,  even  at 
their  own  council  fires ;  but  that,  knowingly,  my  hand  has 
ever  harmed  a  Delaware,  is  opposed  to  the  reason  of  my  gifts, 
which  is  friendly  to  them,  and  all  that  belongs  to  their  nation." 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS.  397 

A  low  exclamation  of  applause  passed  among  the  war- 
riors, who  exchanged  looks  with  each  other  like  men  that 
first  began  to  perceive  their  error. 

"  Where  is  the  Huron  ?  "  demanded  Tamenund.  "  Has 
he  stopped  my  ears  ?  " 

Magua,  whose  feelings  during  that  scene  in  which  Uncas 
had  triumphed  may  be  much  better  imagined  than  described, 
answered  to  the  call  by  stepping  boldly  in  front  of  the 
patriarch. 

"  The  just  Tamenund,"  he  said,  "  will  not  keep  what  a 
Huron  has  lent." 

"  Tell  me,  son  of  my  brother,"  returned  the  sage,  avoiding 
the  dark  countenance  of  Le  Subtil,  and  turning  gladly  to 
the  more  ingenuous  features  of  Uncas,  "  has  the  stranger  a 
conqueror's  right  over  you?  " 

"  He  has  none.  The  panther  may  get  into  snares  set  by 
the  women  ;  but  he  is  strong,  and  knows  how-  to  leap  through 
them." 

"La  longue  Carabine?  " 

"  Laughs  at  the  Mingoes.  Go,  Huron,  ask  your  squaws 
the  color  of  a  bear." 

"  The  stranger  and  the  white  maiden  that  came  into  my 
camp  together?  " 

"  Should  journey  on  an  open  path." 

"  And  the  woman  that  Huron  left  with  my  warriors?  " 

Uncas  made  no  reply. 

"  And  the  woman  that  the  Mingo  has  brought  into  my 
camp,"  repeated  Tamenund,  gravely. 

"  She  is  mine,"  cried  Magua,  shaking  his  hand  in  triumph 
at  Uncas.     "Mohican,  you  know  that  she  is  mine." 

"  My  son  is  silent,"  said  Tamenund,  endeavoring  to  read 
the  expression  of  the  face  that  the  youth  turned  from  him 
in  sorrow. 

"  It  is  so,"  was  the  low  answer. 

A  short  and  impressive  pause  succeeded,  during  which  it 
was  very  apparent  with  what  reluctance  the  multitude  ad- 


39^  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

mitted  the  justice  of  the  Mingo's  claim.  At  length  the  sage, 
on  whom  alone  the  decision  depended,  said,  in  a  firm 
voice — 

"  Huron,  depart." 

"As  he  came,  just  Tamenund,"  demanded  the  wily  Ma- 
gua:  "or  with  hands  filled  with  the  faith  of  the  Delawares? 
The  wigwam  of  Le  Renard  subtil  is  empty.  Make  him 
strong  with  his  own." 

The  aged  man  mused  with  himself  for  a  time;  and  then 
bending  his  head  toward  one  of  his  venerable  companions, 
he  asked — 

"  Are  my  ears  open  ?  " 

"  It  is  true." 

"Is  this  Mingo  a  chief?" 

"The  first  in  his  nation." 

"Girl,  what  wouldst  thou?  A  great  warrior  takes  thee 
to  wife.     Go;  thy  race  will  not  end." 

"  Better,  a  thousand  times,  it  should,"  exclaimed  the  hor- 
ror-struck Cora,  "  than  meet  with  such  a  degradation !  " 

"  Huron,  her  mind  is  in  the  tents  of  her  fathers.  An  un- 
willing maiden  makes  an  unhappy  wigwam." 

"  She  speaks  with  the  tongue  of  her  people,"  returned 
Magua,  regarding  his  victim  with  a  look  of  bitter  irony. 
"  She  is  of  a  race  of  traders,  and  will  bargain  for  a  bright 
look.     Let  Tamenund  speak  the  words." 

"  Take  you  the  wampum,  and  our  love." 

"  Nothing  hence  but  what  Magua  brought  hither." 

"Then  depart  with  thine  own.  The  Great  Man itto  for- 
bids that  a  Delaware  should  be  unjust." 

Magua  advanced,  and  seized  his  captive  strongly  by  the 
arm;  the  Delawares  fell  back,  in  silence;  and  Cora,  as  if 
conscious  that  remonstrance  would  be  useless,  prepared  to 
submit  to  her  fate  without  resistance. 

"Hold,  hold!"  cried  Duncan,  springing  forward;  "Hu- 
ron, have  mercy!  her  ransom  shall  make  thee  richer  than 
any  of  thy  people  were  ever  yet  known  to  be." 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  399 

5  Magua  is  a  red-skin ;  he  wants  not  the  beads  of  the  pale- 
faces." 

"  Gold,  silver,  powder,  lead — all  that  a  warrior  needs  shall 
be  in  thy  wigwam;  all  that  becomes  the  greatest  chief." 

"  Le  Subtil  is  very  strong,"  cried  Magua,  violently  shak- 
ing the  hand  which  grasped  the  unresisting  arm  of  Cora; 
"  he  has  his  revenge !  " 

"  Mighty  Ruler  of  providence !  "  exclamed  Heyward,  clasp- 
ing his  hands  together  in  agony,  "  can  this  be  suffered!  To 
you,  just  Tamenund,  I  appeal  for  mercy." 

"  The  words  of  the  Delaware  are  said,"  returned  the  sage, 
closing  his  eyes,  and  dropping  back  into  his  seat,  alike 
wearied  with  his  mental  and  his  bodily  exertion.  "  Men 
speak  not  twice." 

"  That  a  chief  should  not  misspend  his  time  in  unsaying 
what  has  once  been  spoken,  is  wise  and  reasonable,"  said 
Hawk-eye,  motioning  to  Duncan  to  be  silent;  "but  it  is 
also  prudent  in  every  warrior  to  consider  well  before  he 
strikes  his  tomahawk  into  the  head  of  his  prisoner.  Hu- 
ron, I  love  you  not;  nor  can  I  say  that  any  Mingo  has  ever 
received  much  favor  at  my  hands.  It  is  fair  to  conclude,  that, 
it  this  war  does  not  soon  end,  many  more  of  your  warriors 
will  meet  me  in  the  woods.  Put  it  to  your  judgment,  then, 
whether  you  would  prefer  taking  such  a  prisoner  as  that 
into  your  encampment,  or  one  like  myself,  who  am  a  man 
that  it  would  greatly  rejoice  your  nation  to  see  with  naked 
hands." 

"Will  'The  long  Rifle'  give  his  life  for  the  woman  ?  " 
demanded  Magua,  hesitatingly;  for  he  had  already  made  a 
motion  toward  quitting  the  place  with  his  victim. 

"  No,  no ;  I  have  not  said  so  much  as  that,"  returned 
Hawk-eye,  drawing  back  with  suitable  discretion,  when  he 
noted  the  eagerness  with  which  Magua  listened  to  his  pro- 
posal. "  It  would  be  an  unequal  exchange,  to  give  a  warrior, 
in  the  prime  of  his  age  and  usefulness,  for  the  best  woman 
on  the  frontiers.     I  might  consent  to  go  into  winter  quar- 


400         THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

ters,  now — at  least  six  weeks  afore  the  leaves  will  turn — on 
condition  you  will  release  the  maiden." 

Magua  shook  his  head,  and  made  an  impatient  sign  for  the 
crowd  to  open. 

"Well,  then,"  added  the  scout,  with  the  musing  air  of  a 
man  who  had  not  half  made  up  his  mind,  "  I  will  throw 
'  Kill-deer'  into  the  bargain.  Take  the  word  of  an  experi- 
enced hunter,  the  piece  has  not  its  equal  atween  the  prov- 
inces." 

Magua  still  disdained  to  reply,  continuing  his  efforts  to 
disperse  the  crowd. 

"  Perhaps,"  added  the  scout,  losing  his  dissembled  cool- 
ness, exactly  in  proportion  as  the  other  manifested  an  in- 
difference to  the  exchange,  "  if  I  should  condition  to  teach 
your  young  men  the  real  virtue  of  the  we'pon,  it  would 
smooth  the  little  differences  in  our  judgments." 

Le  Renard  fiercely  ordered  the  Delawares,  who  still  lin- 
gered in  an  impenetrable  belt  around  him,  in  hopes  he 
would  listen  to  the  amicable  proposal,  to  open  his  path, 
threatening,  by  the  glance  of  his  eye,  another  appeal  to  the 
infallible  justice  of  their  "prophet." 

"What  is  ordered  must  sooner  or  later  arrive,"  continued 
Hawk-eye,  turning  with  a  sad  and  humbled  look  to  Uncas. 
"Thevarlet  knows  his  advantage,  and  will  keep  it!  God 
bless  you,  boy;  you  have  found  friends  among  your  natural 
kin,  and  I  hope  they  will  prove  as  true  as  some  you  have 
met  who  had  no  Indian  cross.  As  for  me,  sooner  or  later, 
I  must  die ;  it  is  therefore  fortunate  there  are  but  few  to 
makejny  death-howl.  After  all,  it  is  likely  the  imps  would 
have  managed  to  master  my  scalp,  so  a  day  or  two  will 
make  no  great  difference  in  the  everlasting  reckoning  of 
time.  God  bless  you,"  added  the  rugged  woodsman,  bend- 
ing his  head  aside,  and  then  instantly  changing  its  direction 
again,  with  a  wistful  look  toward  the  youth ;  "  I  loved  both 
you  and  your  father,  Uncas,  though  our  skins  are  not  alto- 
gether of  a  color,  and  our  gifts  are  somewhat  different.     Tell 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  401 

the  Sagamore  I  never  lost  sight  of  him  in  my  greatest  trou- 
ble; and,  as  for  you,  think  of  me  sometimes  when  on  a 
lucky  trail;  and  depend  on  it,  boy,  whether  there  be  one 
heaven  or  two,  there  is  a  path  in  the  other  world  by  which 
honest  men  may  come  together  again.  You'll  find  the  rifle 
in  the  place  we  hid  it;  take  it,  and  keep  it  for  my  sake; 
and  harkee,  lad,  as  your  natural  gifts  don't  deny  you  the  use 
of  vengeance,  use  it  a  little  freely  on  the  Mingoes;  it  may 
unburden  grief  at  my  loss,  and  ease  your  mind.  Huron,  I 
accept  your  off er ;  release  the  woman.     I  am  your  prisoner." 

A  suppressed,  but  still  distinct  murmur  of  approbation, 
ran  through  the  crowd  at  this  generous  proposition ;  even 
the  fiercest  among  the  Delaware  warriors  manifesting  pleas- 
ure at  the  manliness  of  the  intended  sacrifice.  Magua 
paused,  and  for  an  anxious  moment,  it  might  be  said,  he 
doubted;  then  casting  his  eyes  on  Cora,  with  an  expression 
in  which  ferocity  and  admiration  were  strangely  mingled, 
his  purpose  became  fixed  for  ever. 

He  intimated  his  contempt  of  the  offer  with  a  backward 
motion  of  his  head,  and  said,  in  a  steady  and  settled  voice — 

"Le  Renard  subtil  is  a  great  chief;  he  has  but  one  mind. 
Come,"  he  added,  laying  his  hand  too  familiarly  on  the 
shoulder  of  his  captive  to  urge  her  onward;  "a  Huron  is  no 
tattler ;  we  will  go." 

The  maiden  drew  back  in  lofty  womanly  reserve,  and  her 
dark  eye  kindled,  while  the  rich  blood  shot,  like  the  pass- 
ing brightness  of  the  sun,  into  her  very  temples,  at  the  in- 
dignity. 

"  I  am  your  prisoner,  and  at  a  fitting  time  shall  be  ready 
to  follow,  even  to  my  death.  But  violence  is  unnecessary," 
she  coldly  said;  and  immediately  turning  to  Hawk-eye, 
added:  "Generous  hunter!  from  my  soul  I  thank  you. 
Your  offer  is  vain,  neither  could  it  be  accepted ;  but  still 
you  may  serve  me,  even  more  than  in  your  own  noble  in- 
tention. Look  at  that  drooping,  humbled  child!  Abandon 
her  not  until  you  leave  her  in  the  habitations  of  civilized 
26 


402  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

men.  I  will  not  say,"  wringing  the  hard  hand  of  the  scout, 
"  that  her  father  will  reward  you — for  such  as  you  are  above 
the  rewards  of  men — but  he  will  thank  you,  and  bless  you. 
And,  believe  me,  the  blessing  of  a  just  and  aged  man  has 
virtue  in  the  sight  of  Heaven.  Would  to  God,  I  could  hear 
one  from  his  lips  at  this  awful  moment!  "  Her  voice  be- 
came choked,  and,  for  an  instant,  she  was  silent;  then  ad- 
vancing a  step  nigher  to  Duncan,  who  was  supporting  her 
unconscious  sister,  she  continued,  in  more  subdued  tones, 
but  in  which  feeling  and  the  habits  of  her  sex  maintained  a 
fearful  struggle:  "  I  need  not  tell  you  to  cherish  the  treas- 
ure you  will  possess.  You  love  her,  Heyward;  that  would 
conceal  a  thousand  faults,  though  she  had  them.  She  is 
kind,  gentle,  sweet,  good,  as  mortal  may  be.  There  is  not 
a  blemish  in  mind  or  person  at  which  the  proudest  of  you 
all  would  sicken.  She  is  fair — oh!  how  surpassingly  fair," 
laying  her  own  beautiful,  but  less  brilliant  hand  in  melan- 
choly affection  on  the  alabaster  forehead  of  Alice,  and  part- 
ing the  golden  hair,  which  clustered  about  her  brows;  "and 
yet  her  soul  is  pure  and  spotless  as  her  skin!  I  could  say 
much — more,  perhaps  than  cooler  reason  would  approve; 
but  I  will  spare  you  and  myself — "  Her  voice  became  in- 
audible, and  her  face  was  bent  over  the  form  of  her  sister. 
After  a  long  and  burning  kiss,  she  arose,  and  with  features 
of  the  hue  of  death,  but  without  even  a  tear  in  her  feverish 
eye,  she  turned  away,  and  added,  to  the  savage,  with  all  her 
former  elevation  of  manner:  "Now,  sir,  if  it  be  your  pleas- 
ure, I  will  follow." 

"  Ay,  go,"  cried  Duncan,  placing  Alice  in  the  arms  of  an 
Indian  girl;  "go,  Magua,  go.  These  Delawares  have  their 
laws,  which  forbid  them  to  detain  you ;  but  I — I  have  no  such 
obligation.     Go,  malignant  monster — why  do  you  delay?  " 

It  would  be  difficult  to  describe  the  expression  with  which 
Magua  listened  to  this  threat  to  follow.  There  was  at  first 
a  fierce  and  manifest  display  of  joy,  and  then  it  was  in- 
stantly subdued  in  a  look  of  cunning  coldness. 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS.  403 

"  The  woods  are  open,"  he  was  content  with  answering. 
" '  The  open  Hand  '  can  come." 

"  Hold,"  cried  Hawk-eye,  seizing  Duncan  by  the  arm,  and 
detaining  him  by  violence;  "you  know  not  the  craft  of  the 
imp.  He  would  lead  you  to  an  ambushment,  and  your 
death " 

"  Huron,"  interrupted  Uncas,  who,  submissive  to  the  stern 
customs  of  his  people,  had  been  an  attentive  and  grave  lis- 
tener to  all  that  passed;  "  Huron,  the  justice  of  the  Dela- 
wares  comes  from  the  Manitto.  Look  at  the  sun.  He  is 
now  in  the  upper  branches  of  the  hemlock.  Your  path  is 
short  and  open.  When  he  is  seen  above  the  trees,  there  will 
be  men  on  your  trail." 

"  I  hear  a  crow!  "  exclaimed  Magua,  with  a  taunting  laugh. 
"  Go,"  he  added,  shaking  his  hand  at  the  crowd,  which  had 
slowly  opened  to  admit  his  passage — "  Where  are  the  petti- 
coats of  the  Delawares !  Let  them  send  their  arrows  and 
their  guns  to  the  Wyandots;  they  shall  have  venison  to  eat, 
and  corn  to  hoe.     Dogs,  rabbits,  thieves — I  spit  on  you." 

His  parting  gibes  were  listened  to  in  a  dead,  boding 
silence;  and  with  these  biting  words  in  his  mouth,  the  tri- 
umphant Magua  passed  unmolested  into  the  forest,  followed 
by  his  passive  captive,  and  protected  by  the  inviolable  laws 
of  Indian  hospitality. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 


Flue.     Kill  the  poys  and  the  luggage  !     'Tis  expressly  against  the  law  of  arms;  'tis 
as  arrant  a  piece  of  knavery,  mark  you  now,  as  can  be  offered  in  the  'orld. 

King  Henry  V. 

So  long  as  their  enemy  and  his  victim  continued  in  sight, 
the  multitude  remained  motionless  as  beings  charmed  to  the 
place  by  some  power  that  was  friendly  to  the  Huron ;  but 
the  instant  he  disappeared,  it  became  tossed  and  agitated 
by  fierce  and  powerful  passion.     Uncas  maintained  his  ele- 


404  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

vated  stand,  keeping  his  eyes  on  the  form  of  Cora,  until  the 
colors  of  her  dress  were  blended  with  the  foliage  of  the  for- 
est; when  he  descended,  and,  moving  silently  through  the 
throng,  he  disappeared  in  that  lodge  from  which  he  had  so 
recently  issued.  A  few  of  the  graver  and  more  attentive 
warriors,  who  caught  the  gleams  of  anger  that  shot  from  the 
eyes  of  the  young  chief  in  passing,  followed  him  to  the 
place  he  had  selected  for  his  meditations.  After  which, 
Tamenund  and  Alice  were  removed,  and  the  women  and 
children  were  ordered  to  disperse.  During  the  momentous 
hour  that  succeeded,  the  encampment  resembled  a  hive  of 
troubled  bees,  who  only  awaited  the  appearance  and  exam- 
ple of  their  leader  to  take  some  distant  and  momentous  flight. 

A  young  warrior  at  length  issued  from  the  lodge  of  Uncas; 
and  moving  deliberately,  with  a  sort  of  grave  march,  toward 
a  dwarf  pine  that  grew  in  the  crevices  of  the  rocky  terrace, 
he  tore  the  bark  from  its  body,  and  then  returned  whence  he 
came  without  speaking.  He  was  soon  followed  by  another, 
who  stripped  the  sapling  of  its  branches,  leaving  it  a  naked 
and  blazed  *  trunk.  A  third  colored  the  post  with  stripes  of 
a  dark  red  paint;  all  which  indications  of  a  hostile  design 
in  the  leaders  of  the  nation  were  received  by  the  men  with- 
out in  a  gloomy  and  ominous  silence.  Finally,  the  Mohican 
himself  reappeared,  divested  of  all  his  attire  except  his  gir- 
dle and  leggings,  and  with  one  half  of  his  fine  features  hid 
under  a  cloud  of  threatening  black. 

Uncas  moved  with  a  slow  and  dignified  tread  toward  the 
post,  which  he  immediately  commenced  encircling  with  a 
measured  step,  not  unlike  an  ancient  dance,  raising  his 
voice,  at  the  same  time,  in  the  wild  and  irregular  chant  of 
his  war-song.  The  notes  were  in  the  extremes  of  human 
sounds;  being  sometimes  melancholy  and  exquisitely  plain- 
tive, even  rivalling  the  melody  of  birds — and  then,  by  sud- 
den and  startling  transitions,  causing  the  auditors  to  trem- 

*  A  tree  which  has  been  partially  or  entirely  stripped  of  its  bark  is  said,  in  the  Ian 
guage  of  the  country,  to  be  "blazed."  The  term  is  strictly  English:  for  a  horse  is 
said  to  be  blazed  when  it  has  a  white  mark. 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS.  405 

ble  by  their  depth  and  energy.  The  words  were  few  and 
often  repeated,  proceeding  gradually  from  a  sort  of  invo- 
cation, or  hymn  to  the  Deity,  to  an  intimation  of  the  war- 
rior's object,  and  terminating  as  they  commenced  with  an 
acknowledgment  of  his  own  dependence  on  the  Great  Spirit. 
If  it  were  possible  to  translate  the  comprehensive  and  melo- 
dious language  in  which  he  spoke,  the  ode  might  read  some- 
thing like  the  following: — 

"  Manitto  !  Manitto  !  Manitto  ! 
Thou  art  great,  thou  art  good,  thou  art  wise 
Manitto  !  Manitto  ! 
Thou  art  just. 

"In  the  heavens,  in  the  clouds,  oh  !  I  see 
Many  spots — many  dark,  many  red  : 
In  the  heavens,  oh  !  I  see 
Many  clouds. 

"In  the  woods,  in  the  air,  oh  !  I  hear 
The  whoop,  the  long  yell,  and  the  cry 
In  the  woods,  oh  !  I  hear 
The  loud  whoop  ! 

"Manitto!  Manitto!  Manitto! 
I  am  weak — thou  art  strong  ;  I  am  slow — 
Manitto !  Manitto  ! 
Give  me  aid." 

At  the  end  of  what  might  be  called  each  verse  he  made  a 
pause,  by  raising  a  note  louder  and  longer  than  common, 
that  was  peculiarly  suited  to  the  sentiment  just  expressed. 
The  first  close  was  solemn,  and  intended  to  convey  the  idea 
of  veneration;  the  second  descriptive,  bordering  on  the 
alarming;  and  the  third  was  the  well-known  and  terrific 
war-whoop,  which  burst  from  the  lips  of  the  young  warrior, 
like  a  combination  of  all  the  frightful  sounds  of  battle. 
The  last  was  like  the  first,  humble  and  imploring.  Three 
times  did  he  repeat  this  song,  and  as  often  did  he  encircle 
the  post  in  his  dance. 

At  the  close  of  the  first  turn,  a  grave  and  highly  esteemed 
chief  of  the  Lenape  followed  his  example,  singing  words  of 
his  own,  however,  to  music  of  a  similar  character.     Warrior 


406  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

after  warrior  enlisted  in  the  dance,  until  all  of  any  renown 
and  authority  were  numbered  in  its  mazes.  The  spectacle 
now  became  wildly  terrific;  the  fierce-looking  and  menacing 
visages  .of  the  chiefs  receiving  additional  power  from  the 
appalling  strains  in  which  they  mingled  their  guttural  tones. 

Just  then  Uncas  struck  his  tomahawk  deep  into  the  post, 
and  raised  his  voice  in  a  shout,  which  might  be  termed  his 
own  battle-cry.  The  act  announced  that  he  had  assumed 
the  chief  authority  in  the  intended  expedition. 

It  was  a  signal  that  awaked  all  the  slumbering  passions 
of  the  nation.  A  hundred  youths,  who  had  hitherto  been 
restrained  by  the  diffidence  of  their  years,  rushed  in  a  fran- 
tic body  on  the  fancied  emblem  of  their  enemy,  and  severed 
it  asunder,  splinter  by  splinter,  until  nothing  remained  of 
the  trunk  but  its  roots  in  the  earth.  During  this  moment  of 
tumult,  the  most  ruthless  deeds  of  war  were  performed  on  the 
fragments  of  the  tree,  with  as  much  apparent  ferocity  as  if 
they  were  the  living  victims  of  their  cruelty.  Some  were 
scalped;  some  received  the  keen  and  trembling  axe;  and 
others  suffered  by  thrusts  from  the  fatal  knife.  In  short, 
the  manifestations  of  zeal  and  fierce  delight  were  so  great 
and  unequivocal,  that  the  expedition  was  declared  to  be  a 
war  of  the  nation. 

The  instant  Uncas  had  struck  the  blow,  he  moved  out  of 
the  circle,  and  cast  his  eyes  up  to  the  sun,  which  was  just 
gaining  the  point  when  the  truce  with  Magua  was  to  end. 
The  fact  was  soon  announced  by  a  significant  gesture,  ac- 
companied by  a  corresponding  cry;  and  the  whole  of  the 
excited  multitude  abandoned  their  mimic  warfare,  with  shrill 
yells  of  pleasure,  to  prepare  for  the  more  hazardous  experi- 
ment of  the  reality. 

The  whole  face  of  the  encampment  was  instantly  changed. 
The  warriors,  who  were  already  armed  and  painted,  became 
as  still  as  if  they  were  incapable  of  any  uncommon  burst  of 
emotion.  On  the  other  hand,  the  women  broke  out  of  the 
lodges,  with  the  songs  of  joy  and  those  of  lamentation,  so 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  405 

ble  by  their  depth  and  energy.  The  words  were  few  and 
often  repeated,  proceeding  gradually  from  a  sort  of  invo- 
cation, or  hymn  to  the  Deity,  to  an  intimation  of  the  war- 
rior's object,  and  terminating  as  they  commenced  with  an 
acknowledgment  of  his  own  dependence  on  the  Great  Spirit. 
If  it  were  possible  to  translate  the  comprehensive  and  melo- 
dious language  in  which  he  spoke,  the  ode  might  read  some- 
thing like  the  following : — 

"Manitto!  Manitto  !  Manitto  ! 
Thou  art  great,  thou  art  good,  thou  art  wi90 
Manitto  !  Manitto  ! 
Thou  art  just. 

"In  the  heavens,  in  the  clouds,  oh  !  I  see 
Many  spots — many  dark,  many  red  : 
In  the  heavens,  oh  !  I  see 
Many  clouds. 

"In  the  woods,  in  the  air,  oh  !  I  hear 
The  whoop,  the  long  yell,  and  the  cry 
In  the  woods,  oh  !  I  hear 
The  loud  whoop  ! 

"Manitto!  Manitto!  Manitto! 
I  am  weak — thou  art  strong  ;  I  am  slow — 
Manitto !  Manitto  ! 
Give  me  aid." 

At  the  end  of  what  might  be  called  each  verse  he  made  a 
pause,  by  raising  a  note  louder  and  longer  than  common, 
that  was  peculiarly  suited  to  the  sentiment  just  expressed. 
The  first  close  was  solemn,  and  intended  to  convey  the  idea 
of  veneration;  the  second  descriptive,  bordering  on  the 
alarming;  and  the  third  was  the  well-known  and  terrific 
war-whoop,  which  burst  from  the  lips  of  the  young  warrior, 
like  a  combination  of  all  the  frightful  sounds  of  battle. 
The  last  was  like  the  first,  humble  and  imploring.  Three 
times  did  he  repeat  this  song,  and  as  often  did  he  encircle 
the  post  in  his  dance. 

At  the  close  of  the  first  turn,  a  grave  and  highly  esteemed 
chief  of  the  Lenape  followed  his  example,  singing  words  of 
his  own,  however,  to  music  of  a  similar  character.     Warrior 


406  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

after  warrior  enlisted  in  the  dance,  until  all  of  any  renown 
and  authority  were  numbered  in  its  mazes.  The  spectacle 
now  became  wildly  terrific;  the  fierce-looking  and  menacing 
visages  of  the  chiefs  receiving  additional  power  from  the 
appalling  strains  in  which  they  mingled  their  guttural  tones. 

Just  then  Uncas  struck  his  tomahawk  deep  into  the  post, 
and  raised  his  voice  in  a  shout,  which  might  be  termed  his 
own  battle-cry.  The  act  announced  that  he  had  assumed 
the  chief  authority  in  the  intended  expedition. 

It  was  a  signal  that  awaked  all  the  slumbering  passions 
of  the  nation.  A  hundred  youths,  who  had  hitherto  been 
restrained  by  the  diffidence  of  their  years,  rushed  in  a  fran- 
tic body  on  the  fancied  emblem  of  their  enemy,  and  severed 
it  asunder,  splinter  by  splinter,  until  nothing  remained  of 
the  trunk  but  its  roots  in  the  earth.  During  this  moment  of 
tumult,  the  most  ruthless  deeds  of  war  were  performed  on  the 
fragments  of  the  tree,  with  as  much  apparent  ferocity  as  if 
they  were  the  living  victims  of  their  cruelty.  Some  were 
scalped;  some  received  the  keen  and  trembling  axe;  and 
others  suffered  by  thrusts  from  the  fatal  knife.  In  short, 
the  manifestations  of  zeal  and  fierce  delight  were  so  great 
and  unequivocal,  that  the  expedition  was  declared  to  be  a 
war  of  the  nation. 

The  instant  Uncas  had  struck  the  blow,  he  moved  out  of 
the  circle,  and  cast  his  eyes  up  to  the  sun,  which  was  just 
gaining  the  point  when  the  truce  with  Magua  was  to  end. 
The  fact  was  soon  announced  by  a  significant  gesture,  ac- 
companied by  a  corresponding  cry;  and  the  whole  of  the 
excited  multitude  abandoned  their  mimic  warfare,  with  shrill 
yells  of  pleasure,  to  prepare  for  the  more  hazardous  experi- 
ment of  the  reality. 

The  whole  face  of  the  encampment  was  instantly  changed. 
The  warriors,  who  were  already  armed  and  painted,  became 
as  still  as  if  they  were  incapable  of  any  uncommon  burst  of 
emotion.  On  the  other  hand,  the  women  broke  out  of  the 
lodges,  with  the  songs  of  joy  and  those  of  lamentation,  so 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  407 

strangely  mingled,  that  it  might  have  been  difficult  to  have 
said  which  passion  preponderated.  None,  however,  were 
idle.  Some  bore  their  choicest  articles,  others  their  young, 
and  some  their  aged  and  infirm,  into  the  forest,  which 
spread  itself  like  a  verdant  carpet  of  bright  green  against 
the  side  of  the  mountain.  Thither  Tamenund  also  retired, 
with  calm  composure,  after  a  short  and  touching  interview 
with  Uncas;  from  whom  the  sage  separated  with  the  reluc- 
tance that  a  parent  would  quit  a  long-lost  and  just  recovered 
child.  In  the  meantime,  Duncan  saw  Alice  to  a  place  of 
safety,  and  then  sought  the  scout,  with  a  countenance  that 
denoted  how  eagerly  he  also  panted  for  the  approaching 
contest. 

But  Hawk-eye  was  too  much  accustomed  to  the  war-song 
and  the  enlistments  of  the  natives,  to  betray  any  interest  in 
the  passing  scene.  He  merely  cast  an  occasional  look  at 
the  number  and  quality  of  the  warriors,  who,  from  time  to 
time,  signified  their  readiness  to  accompany  Uncas  to  the 
field.  In  this  particular  he  was  soon  satisfied;  for,  as  has 
been  already  seen,  the  power  of  the  young  chief  quickly 
embraced  every  fighting  man  in  the  nation.  After  this  ma- 
terial point  was  so  satisfactorily  decided,  he  despatched  an 
Indian  boy  in  quest  of  "Kill-deer"  and  the  rifle  of  Uncas, 
to  the  place  where  they  had  deposited  the  weapons  on  ap- 
proaching the  camp  of  the  Delawares;  a  measure  of  double 
policy,  inasmuch  as  it  protected  the  arms  from  their  own 
fate,  if  detained  as  prisoners,  and  gave  them  the  advantage 
of  appearing  among  the  strangers  rather  as  sufferers  than  as 
men  provided  with  the  means  of  defence  and  subsistence. 
In  selecting  another  to  perform  the  office  of  reclaiming  his 
highly  prized  rifle,  the  scout  had  lost  sight  of  none  of  his 
habitual  caution.  He  knew  that  Magua  had  not  come  un- 
attended, and  he  also  knew  that  Huron  spies  watched  the 
movements  of  their  new  enemies,  along  the  whole  boundary 
of  the  woods.  It  would,  therefore,  have  been  fatal  to  him- 
self to  have  attempted  the  experiment ;  a  warrior  would  have 


408  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

fared  no  better,  but  the  danger  of  a  boy  would  not  be  likely 
to  commence  until  after  his  object  was  discovered.  When 
Heyward  joined  him,  the  scout  was  coolly  awaiting  the  re- 
sult of  this  experiment. 

The  boy,  who  had  been  well  instructed,  and  was  suffi- 
ciently crafty,  proceeded,  with  a  bosom  that  was  swelling 
with  the  pride  of  such  a  confidence,  and  all  the  hopes  of 
young  ambition,  carelessly  across  the  clearing  to  the  wood, 
which  he  entered  at  a  point  at  some  little  distance  from  the 
place  where  the  guns  were  secreted.  The  instant,  however, 
he  was  concealed  by  the  foliage  of  the  bushes,  his  dusky 
form  was  to  be  seen  gliding,  like  that  of  a  serpent,  toward 
the  desired  treasure.  He  was  successful ,  and  in  another 
moment  he  appeared  flying  across  the  narrow  opening  that 
skirted  the  base  of  the  terrace  on  which  the  village  stood, 
with  the  velocity  of  an  arrow,  and  bearing  a  prize  in  each 
hand.  He  had  actually  gained  the  crags,  and  was  leaping 
up  their  sides  with  incredible  activity,  when  a  shot  from  the 
woods  showed  how  accurate  had  been  the  judgment  of  the 
scout.  The  boy  answered  it  with  a  feeble  but  contemptuous 
shout;  and  immediately  a  second  bullet  was  sent  after  him 
from  another  part  of  the  cover.  At  the  next  instant  he  ap- 
peared on  the  level  above,  elevating  his  guns  in  triumph, 
while  he  moved  with  the  air  of  a  conqueror  toward  the 
renowned  hunter  who  had  honored  him  by  so  glorious  a 
commission. 

Notwithstanding  the  lively  interest  Hawk-eye  had  taken 
in  the  fate  of  his  messenger,  he  received  "  Kill-deer  "  with 
a  satisfaction  that,  momentarily,  drove  all  other  recollec- 
tions from  his  mind.  After  examining  the  piece  with  an 
intelligent  eye,  and  opening  and  shutting  the  pan  some  ten 
or  fifteen  times,  and  trying  sundry  other  equally  important 
experiments  on  the  lock,  he  turned  to  the  boy,  and  demanded, 
with  great  manifestations  of  kindness,  if  he  was  hurt.  The 
urchin  looked  proudly  up  in  his  face,  but  made  no  reply. 

"  Ah !    I  see,  lad,  the  knaves  have  barked  your  arm !  " 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS.         409 

added  the  scout,  taking  up  the  limb  of  the  patient  sufferer, 
across  which  a  deep  flesh  wound  had  been  made  by  one  of 
the  bullets,  ''but  a  little  bruised  alder  will  act  like  a 
charm.  In  the  meantime  I  will  wrap  it  in  a  badge  of  wam- 
pum !  You  have  commenced  the  business  of  a  warrior  early, 
my  brave  boy,  and  are  likely  to  bear  a  plenty  of  honorable 
scars  to  your  grave.  I  know  many  young  men  that  have 
taken  scalps  who  cannot  show  such  a  mark  as  this.  Go," 
having  bound  up  the  arm ;  "  you  will  be  a  chief !  " 

The  lad  departed,  prouder  of  his  flowing  blood  than  the 
vainest  courtier  could  be  of  his  blushing  riband ,  and  stalked 
among  the  fellows  of  his  age,  an  object  of  general  admira- 
tion and  envy. 

But  in  a  moment  of  so  many  serious  and  important  duties, 
this  single  act  of  juvenile  fortitude  did  not  attract  the  gen- 
eral notice  and  commendation  it  would  have  received  under 
milder  auspices.  It  had,  however,  served  to  apprise  the 
Delawares  of  the  position  and  the  intentions  of  their  enemies. 
Accordingly  a  party  of  adventurers,  better  suited  to  the  task 
than  the  weak  though  spirited  boy,  was  ordered  to  dislodge 
the  skulkers.  The  duty  was  soon  performed ;  for  most  of 
the  Hurons  retired  of  themselves  when  they  found  they  had 
been  discovered.  The  Delawares  followed  to  a  sufficient 
distance  from  their  own  encampment,  and  then  halted  for 
orders,  apprehensive  of  being  led  into  an  ambush.  As  botn 
parties  secreted  themselves,  the  woods  were  again  as  still 
and  quiet  as  a  mild  summer  morning  and  deep  solitude 
could  render  them. 

The  calm  but  still  impatient  Uncas  now  collected  his 
chiefs,  and  divided  his  power.  He  presented  Hawk-eye  as 
a  warrior,  often  tried,  and  always  found  deserving  of  confi- 
dence. When  he  found  his  friend  met  with  a  favorable  re- 
ception, he  bestowed  on  him  the  command  of  twenty  men, 
like  himself  active,  skilful,  and  resolute.  He  gave  the 
Delawares  to  understand  the  rank  of  Heyward  among  the 
troops  of  the  Yengeese,  and  then  tendered  to  him  a  trust  of 


4IC         THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

equal  authority.  But  Duncan  declined  the  charge,  profess- 
ing his  readiness  to  serve  as  a  volunteer  by  the  side  of  the 
scout.  After  this  disposition,  the  young  Mohican  appointed 
various  native  chiefs  to  fill  the  different  situations  of 
responsibility,  and  the  time  pressing,  he  gave  forth  the  word 
to  march.  He  was  cheerfully,  but  silently,  obeyed  by  more 
than  two  hundred  men. 

Their  entrance  into  the  forest  was  perfectly  unmolested; 
nor  did  they  encounter  any  living  objects  that  could  either 
give  the  alarm,  or  furnish  the  intelligence  they  needed,  un- 
til they  came  upon  the  lairs  of  their  own  scouts.  Here  a 
halt  was  ordered,  and  the  chiefs  were  assembled  to  hold  a 
"whispering  council."  At  this  meeting  diverse  plans  of 
operation  were  suggested,  though  none  of  a  character  to 
meet  the  wishes  of  their  ardent  leader.  Had  Uncas  fol- 
lowed the  promptings  of  his  own  inclinations,  he.  would 
have  led  his  followers  to  the  charge  without  a  moment's 
delay,  and  put  the  conflict  to  the  hazard  of  an  instant  issue; 
but  such  a  course  would  have  been  in  opposition  to  all  the 
received  practices  and  opinions  of  his  countrymen.  He  was, 
therefore,  fain  to  adopt  a  caution  that  in  the  present  temper 
of  his  mind  he  execrated,  and  to  listen  to  advice  at  which 
his  fiery  spirit  chafed,  under  the  vivid  recollection  of  Cora's 
danger  and  Magua's  insolence. 

After  an  unsatisfactory  conference  of  many  minutes,  a 
solitary  individual  was  seen  advancing  from  the  side  of  the 
enemy,  with  such  apparent  haste  as  to  induce  the  belief  he 
might  be  a  messenger  charged  with  pacific  overtures.  When 
within  a  hundred  yards,  however,  of  the  cover  behind  which 
the  Delaware  council  had  assembled,  the  stranger  hesitated, 
appeared  uncertain  what  course  to  take,  and  finally  halted. 
All  eyes  were  now  turned  on  Uncas,  as  if  seeking  directions 
how  to  proceed. 

"Hawk-eye,"  said  the  young  chief,  in  a  low  voice,  "he 
must  never  speak  to  the  Hurons  again." 

"  His  time  has  come,''  said  the  laconic  scout,  thrusting 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  4 1  I 

the  long  barrel  of  his  rifle  through  the  leaves,  and  taking 
his  deliberate  and  fatal  aim.  But,  instead  of  pulling  the 
trigger,  he  lowered  the  muzzle  again,  and  indulged  himself 
in  a  fit  of  his  peculiar  mirth.  "  I  took  the  imp  for  a  Mingo, 
as  I'm  a  miserable  sinner!  "  he  said;  "but  when  my  eye 
ranged  along  his  ribs  for  a  place  to  get  the  bullet  in — would 
you  think  it,  Uncas— I  saw  the  musicianer's  blower !  and  so, 
after  all,  it  is  the  man  they  call  Gamut,  whose  death  can 
profit  no  one,  and  whose  life,  if  his  tongue  can  do  anything 
but  sing,  may  be  made  serviceable  to  our  own  ends.  If 
sounds  have  not  lost  their  virtue,  I'll  soon  have  a  discourse 
with  the  honest  fellow,  and  that  in  a  voice  he'll  find  more 
agreeable  than  the  speech  of  '  Kill-deer.'  " 

So  saying,  Hawk-eye  laid  aside  his  rifle;  and  crawling 
through  the  bushes  until  within  hearing  of  David,  he  at- 
tempted to  repeat  the  musical  effort,  which  had  conducted 
himself,  with  so  much  safety  and  eclat,  through  the  Huron 
encampment.  The  exquisite  organs  of  Gamut  could  not 
readily  be  deceived  (and,  to  say  the  truth,  it  would  have 
been  difficult  for  any  other  than  Hawk-eye  to  produce  a  sim- 
ilar noise),  and  consequently,  having  once  before  heard  the 
sounds,  he  now  knew  whence  they  proceeded.  The  poor 
fellow  appeared  relieved  from  a  state  of  great  embarrass- 
ment; for  pursuing  the  direction  of  the  voice — a  task  that 
to  him  was  not  much  less  arduous  than  it  would  have  been 
to  have  gone  up  in  the  face  of  a  battery — he  soon  discovered 
the  hidden  songster. 

"I  wonder  what  the  Hurons  will  think  of  that!  "  said  the 
scout,  laughing,  as  he  took  his  companion  by  the  arm,  and 
urged  him  toward  the  rear.  "  If  the  knaves  lie  within  ear- 
shot, they  will  say  there  are  two  non-compossers  instead  of 
one!  But  here  we  are  safe,"  he  added,  pointing  to  Uncas 
and  his  associates.  "  Now  give  us  the  history  of  the  Mingo 
inventions  in  natural  English,  and  without  any  ups  and 
downs  of  voice." 

David  gazed  about  him,  at  the  fierce  and  wild-looking 


412  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

chiefs,  in  mute  wonder;  but  assured  by  the  presence  of  faces 
that  he  knew,  he  soon  rallied  his  faculties  so  far  as  to  make 
an  intelligent  reply. 

"  The  heathen  are  abroad  in  goodly  numbers,"  said  David ; 
"  and,  I  fear,  with  evil  intent.  There  has  been  much  howl- 
ing and  ungodly  revelry,  together  with  such  sounds  as  it  is 
profanity  to  utter,  in  their  habitations  within  the  past  hour; 
so  much  so,  in  truth,  that  I  have  fled  to  the  Delawares  in 
search  of  peace." 

"  Your  ears  might  not  have  profited  much  by  the  exchange, 
had  you  been  quicker  of  foot,"  returned  the  scout  a  little 
dryly.     "  But  let  that  be  as  it  may ;  where  are  the  Hurons?  " 

"  They  lie  hid  in  the  forest,  between  this  spot  and  their 
village,  in  such  force  that  prudence  would  teach  you  in- 
stantly to  return." 

Uncas  cast  a  glance  along  the  range  of  trees  which  con- 
cealed his  own  band,  and  mentioned  the  name  of — 

"Magua?" 

"Is  among  them.  He  brought  in  the  maiden  that  had 
sojourned  with  the  Delawares,  and  leaving  her  in  the  cave, 
has  put  himself,  like  a  raging  wolf,  at  the  head  of  his  sav- 
ages.    I  know  not  what  has  troubled  his  spirit  so  greatly!  " 

"  He  has  left  her,  you  say,  in  the  cave !  "  interrupted  Hey- 
ward ;  "  'tis  well  that  we  know  its  situation !  May  not  some- 
thing be  done  for  her  instant  relief?  " 

Uncas  looked  earnestly  at  the  scout,  before  he  asked — 

"  What  says  Hawk-eye  ?  " 

"  Give  me  my  twenty  rifles,  and  I  will  turn  to  the  right, 
along  the  stream;  and  passing  by  the  huts  of  the  beaver, 
will  join  the  Sagamore  and  the  colonel.  You  shall  then 
hear  the  whoop  from  that  quarter;  with  this  wind  one  may 
easily  send  it  a  mile.  Then,  Uncas,  do  you  drive  in  their 
front;  when  they  come  within  range  of  our  pieces,  we  will 
give  them  a  blow  that,  I  pledge  the  good  name  of  an  old 
frontiersman,  shall  make  their  line  bend  like  an  ashen  bow. 
After  which,  we  will  carry  their  village,  and  take  the  woman 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS.  4I3 

from  the  cave;  when  the  affair  may  be  finished  with  the 
tribe,  according  to  a  white  man's  battle,  by  a  blow  and  a 
victory;  or,  in  the  Indian  fashion,  with  dodge  and  cover. 
There  may  be  no  great  learning,  major,  in  this  plan,  but 
with  courage  and  patience  it  can  all  be  done." 

"I  like  it  much,"  cried  Duncan,  who  saw  that  the  release 
of  Cora  was  the  primary  object  in  the  mind  of  the  scout; 
"  I  like  it  much.     Let  it  be  instantly  attempted." 

After  a  short  conference,  the  plan  was  matured,  and  ren- 
dered more  intelligible  to  the  several  parties;  the  different 
signals  were  appointed,  and  the  chiefs  separated,  each  to 
his  allotted  station. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 


But  plagues  shall  spread,  and  funeral  fires  increase, 

Till  the  great  king,  without  a  ransom  paid, 

To  her  own  Chrysa  send  the  black-eyed  maid.  Pope. 

During  the  time  Uncas  was  making  this  disposition  of 
his  forces,  the  woods  were  as  still,  and,  with  the  exception 
of  those  who  had  met  in  council,  apparently  as  much  unten- 
anted, as  when  they  came  fresh  from  the  hands  of  their  Al- 
mighty Creator.  The  eye  could  range,  in  every  direction, 
through  the  long  and  shadowed  vistas  of  the  trees;  but  no- 
where was  any  object  to  be  seen  that  did  not  properly  belong 
to  the  peaceful  and  slumbering  scenery.  Here  and  there  a 
bird  was  heard  fluttering  among  the  branches  of  the  beeches, 
and  occasionally  a  squirrel  dropped  a  nut,  drawing  the 
startled  looks  of  the  party,  for  a  moment,  to  the  place ;  but 
the  instant  the  casual  interruption  ceased,  the  passing  air  was 
heard  murmuring  above  their  heads,  along  that  verdant  and 
undulating  surface  of  forest,  which  spread  itself  unbroken, 
unless  by  stream  or  lake,  over  such  a  vast  region  of  country. 
Across  the  tract  of  wilderness,  which  lay  between  the  Dela- 
wares  and  the  village  of  their  enemies,  it  seemed  as  if  the 


414  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

foot  of  man  had  never  trodden,  so  breathing  and  deep  was 
the  silence  in  which  it  lay.  But  Hawk-eye,  whose  duty  led 
him  foremost  in  the  adventure,  knew  the  character  of  those 
with  whom  he  was  about  to  contend  too  well  to  trust  the 
treacherous  quiet. 

When  he  saw  his  little  band  collected,  the  scout  threw 
"Kill-deer"  into  the  hollow  of  his  arm,  and  making  a 
silent  signal  that  he  would  be  followed,  he  led  them  many 
rods  toward  the  rear,  into  the  bed  of  a  little  brook  which 
they  had  crossed  in  advancing.  Here  he  halted,  and  after 
waiting  for  the  whole  of  his  grave  and  attentive  warriors  to 
close  about  him,  he  spoke  in  Delaware,  demanding— 

"  Do  any  of  my  young  men  know  whither  this  run  will 
lead  us  ? " 

A  Delaware  stretched  forth  a  hand,  with  the  two  fingers 
separated,  and  indicating  the  manner  in  which  they  were 
joined  at  the  root,  he  answered — 

"  Before  the  sun  could  go  his  own  length,  the  little  water 
will  be  in  the  big."  Then  he  added,  pointing  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  place  he  mentioned,  "the  two  make  enough  for 
the  beavers." 

"  I  thought  as  much,"  returned  the  scout,  glancing  his  eye 
upward  at  the  opening  in  the  tree-tops,  "from  the  course  it 
takes,  and  the  bearings  of  the  mountains.  Men,  we  will 
keep  within  the  cover  of  its  banks  till  we  scent  the  Hurons." 

His  companions  gave  the  usual  brief  exclamation  of 
assent,  but  perceiving  that  their  leader  was  about  to  lead 
the  way  in  person,  one  or  two  made  signs  that  all  was  not 
as  it  should  be.  Hawk-eye,  who  comprehended  their  mean- 
ing glances,  turned,  and  perceived  that  his  party  had  been 
followed  thus  far  by  the  singing  master. 

"Do  you  know,  friend,"  asked  the  scout  gravely,  and 
perhaps  with  a  little  of  the  pride  of  conscious  deserving  in 
his  manner,  "that  this  is  a  band  of  rangers  chosen  for  the 
most  desperate  service,  and  put  under  the  command  of  one 
who,  though  another  might  say  it  with  a  better  face,  will 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS.  415 

not  be  apt  to  leave  them  idle.  It  may  not  be  five,  it  can- 
not be  thirty,  minutes  before  we  tread  on  the  body  of  a 
Huron,  living  or  dead." 

"  Though  not  admonished  of  your  intentions  in  words," 
returned  David,  whose  face  was  a  little  flushed,  and  whose 
ordinarily  quiet  and  unmeaning  eyes  glimmered  with  an 
expression  of  unusual  fire,  "your  men  have  reminded  me  of 
the  children  of  Jacob  going  out  to  battle  against  the  Sheche- 
mites,  for  wickedly  aspiring  to  wedlock  with  a  woman  of 
a  race  that  was  favored  of  the  Lord.  Now,  I  have  journeyed 
far,  and  sojourned  much  in  good  and  evil  with  the  maiden 
ye  seek;  and  though  not  a  man  of  war,  with  my  loins  girded 
and  my  sword  sharpened,  yet  would  I  gladly  strike  a  blow 
in  her  behalf." 

The  scout  hesitated,  as  if  weighing  the  chances  of  such  a 
strange  enlistment  in  his  mind  before  he  answered — 

"  You  know  not  the  use  of  any  we'pon.  You  carry  no 
rifle;  and  believe  me,  what  the  Mingoes  take  they  will 
freely  give  again." 

"Though  not  a  vaunting  and  bloodily  disposed  Goliath," 
returned  David,  drawing  a  sling  from  beneath  his  parti-col- 
ored and  uncouth  attire,  "  I  have  not  forgotten  the  example 
of  the  Jewish  boy.  With  this  ancient  instrument  of  war 
have  I  practised  much  in  my  youth,  and  peradventure  the 
skill  has  not  entirely  departed  from  me." 

"Ay!"  said  Hawk-eye,  considering  the  deer-skin  thong 
and  apron,  with  a  cold  and  discouraging  eye ;  "  the  thing 
might  do  its  work  among  arrows,  or  even  knives ;  but  these 
Mengwe  have  been  furnished  by  the  Frenchers  with  a  good 
grooved  barrel  a  man.  However,  it  seems  to  be  your  gift  to 
go  unharmed  amid  fire;  and  as  you  have  hitherto  been 
favored — major,  you  have  left  your  rifle  at  a  cock;  a  sin- 
gle shot  before  the  time  would  be  just  twenty  scalps  lost  to 
no  purpose — singer,  you  can  follow;  we  may  find  use  for 
you  in  the  shoutings." 

"  I  thank  you,  friend,"  returned  David,  supplying  himself, 


4l6  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

like  his  royal  namesake,  from  among  the  pebbles  of  the 
brook ;  "  though  not  given  to  the  desire  to  kill,  had  you  sent 
me  away  my  spirit  would  have  been  troubled." 

"  Remember,"  added  the  scout,  tapping  his  own  head  sig- 
nificantly on  that  spot  where  Gamut  was  yet  sore,  "  we  come 
to  fight,  and  not  to  musickate.  Until  the  general  whoop  is 
given,  nothing  speaks  but  the  rifle." 

David  nodded,  as  much  as  to  signify  his  acquiescence 
with  the  terms ;  and  then  Hawk-eye,  casting  another  observ- 
ant glance  over  his  followers,  made  the  signal  to  proceed. 

Their  route  lay,  for  the  distance  of  a  mile,  along  the  bed 
of  the  water-course.  Though  protected  from  any  great  dan- 
ger of  observation  by  the  precipitous  banks,  and  the  thick 
shrubbery  which  skirted  the  stream,  no  precaution  known  to 
an  Indian  attack  was  neglected.  A  warrior  rather  crawled 
than  walked  on  each  flank,  so  as  to  catch  occasional  glimpses 
into  the  forest;  and  every  few  minutes  the  band  came  to  a 
halt,  and  listened  for  hostile  sounds,  with  an  acuteness  of 
organs  that  would  be  scarcely  conceivable  to  a  man  in  a 
less  natural  state.  Their  march  was,  however,  unmolested, 
and  they  reached  the  point  where  the  lesser  stream  was  lost 
in  the  greater,  without  the  smallest  evidence  that  their  prog- 
ress had  been  noted.  Here  the  scout  again  halted,  to  con- 
sult the  signs  of  the  forest. 

"  We  are  likely  to  have  a  good  day  for  a  fight,"  he  said, 
in  English,  addressing  Heyward,  and  glancing  his  eye  up- 
ward at  the  clouds,  which  began  to  move  in  broad  sheets 
across  the  firmament;  "  a  bright  sun  and  a  glittering  barrel 
are  no  friends  to  true  sight.  Everything  is  favorable;  they 
have  the  wind,  which  will  bring  down  their  noises  and  their 
smoke  too,  no  little  matter  in  itself;  whereas,  with  us  it  will 
be  first  a  shot,  and  then  a  clear  view.  But  here  is  an  end 
of  our  cover;  the  beavers  have  had  the  range  of  this  stream 
for  hundreds  of  years,  and  what  atween  their  food  and  their 
dams,  there  is,  as  you  see,  many  a  girdled  stub,  but  few  liv- 
ing trees." 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  417 

Hawk-eye  had,  in  truth,  in  these  few  words,  given  no  bad 
description  of  the  prospect  that  now  lay  in  their  front.  The 
brook  was  irregular  in  its  width,  sometimes  shooting  through 
narrow  fissures  in  the  rocks,  and  at  others  spreading  over 
acres  of  bottom  land,  forming  little  areas  that  might  be 
termed  ponds.  Everywhere  along  its  banks  were  the  moul- 
dering relics  of  dead  trees,  in  all  the  stages  of  decay,  from 
those  that  groaned  on  their  tottering  trunks  to  such  as  had 
recently  been  robbed  of  those  rugged  coats  that  so  mysteri- 
ously contain  their  principle  of  life.  A  few  long,  low,  and 
moss-covered  piles  were  scattered  among  them,  like  the 
memorials  of  a  former  and  long-departed  generation. 

All  these  minute  particulars  were  noted  by  the  scout,  with 
a  gravity  and  interest  that  they  probably  had  never  before 
attracted.  He  knew  that  the  Huron  encampment  lay  a  short 
half  mile  up  the  brook ;  and,  with  the  characteristic  anxiety 
of  one  who  dreaded  a  hidden  danger,  he  was  greatly  troubled 
at  not  finding  the  smallest  trace  of  the  presence  of  his  en- 
emy. Once  or  twice  he  felt  induced  to  give  the  order  for  a 
rush,  and  to  attempt  the  village  by  surprise;  but  his  experi- 
ence quickly  admonished  him  of  the  danger  of  so  useless  an 
experiment.  Then  he  listened  intently,  and  with  painful 
uncertainty,  for  the  sounds  of  hostility  in  the  quarter  where 
Uncas  was  left;  but  nothing  was  audible  except  the  sighing 
of  the  wind,  that  began  to  sweep  over  the  bosom  of  the  forest 
in  gusts  which  threatened  a  tempest.  At  length,  yielding 
rather  to  his  unusual  impatience  than  taking  counsel  from 
his  knowledge,  he  determined  to  bring  matters  to  an  issue, 
by  unmasking  his  force,  and  proceeding  cautiously,  but 
steadily,  up  the  stream. 

The  scout  had  stood,  while  making  his  observations,  shel- 
tered by  a  brake,  and  his  companions  still  lay  in  the  bed  of  the 
ravine,  through  which  the  smaller  stream  debouched ;  but  on 
hearing  his  low,  though  intelligible  signal,  the  whole  party 
stole  up  the  bank,  like  so  many  dark  spectres,  and  silently 
arranged  themselves  around  him.  Pointing  in  the  direction 
27 


4l8  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

he  wished  to  proceed,  Hawk-eye  advanced,  the  band  break- 
ing off  in  single  files,  and  following  so  accurately  in  his 
footsteps,  as  to  leave  it,  if  we  except  Heyward  and  David, 
the  trail  of  but  a  single  man. 

The  party  was,  however,  scarcely  uncovered  before  a  vol- 
ley from  a  dozen  rifles  was  heard  in  their  rear;  and  a  Dela- 
ware leaping  high  into  the  air,  like  a  wounded  deer,  fell  at 
his  whole  length,  perfectly  dead. 

"Ah!  I  feared  some  deviltry  like  this!  "  exclaimed  the 
scout,  in  English;  adding,  with  the  quickness  of  thought,  in 
his  adopted  tongue,  "To  cover,  men,  and  charge!  " 

The  band  dispersed  at  the  word,  and  before  Heyward  had 
well  recovered  from  his  surprise,  he  found  himself  standing 
alone  with  David.  Luckily,  the  Hurons  had  already  fallen 
back,  and  he  was  safe  from  their  fire.  But  this  state  of  things 
was  evidently  to  be  of  short  continuance ;  for  the  scout  set 
the  example  of  pressing  on  their  retreat,  by  discharging  his 
rifle,  and  darting  from  tree  to  tree,  as  his  enemy  slowly 
yielded  ground. 

It  would  seem  that  the  assault  had  been  made  by  a  very 
small  party  of  the  Hurons,  which,  however,  continued  to 
increase  in  numbers,  as  it  retired  on  its  friends,  until  the 
return  fire  was  very  nearly,  if  not  quite,  equal  to  that  main- 
tained by  the  advancing  Delawares.  Heyward  threw  him- 
self among  the  combatants,  and  imitating  the  necessary  cau- 
tion of  his  companions,  he  made  quick  discharges  with  his 
own  rifle.  The  contest  now  grew  warm  and  stationary. 
Few  were  injured,  as  both  parties  kept  their  bodies  as  much 
protected  as  possible  by  the  trees ;  never,  indeed,  exposing 
any  part  of  their  persons  except  in  the  act  of  taking  aim. 
But  the  chances  were  gradually  growing  unfavorable  to 
Hawk-eye  and  his  band.  The  quick-sighted  scout  perceived 
his  danger,  without  knowing  how  to  remedy  it.  He  saw  it 
was  more  dangerous  to  retreat  than  to  maintain  his  ground ; 
while  he  found  his  enemy  throwing  out  men  on  his  flank, 
which  rendered  the  task  of  keeping  themselves  covered  so 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  419 

very  difficult  to  the  Delawares,  as  nearly  to  silence  their  fire. 
At  this  embarrassing  moment,  when  they  began  to  think  the 
whole  of  the  hostile  tribe  was  gradually  encircling  them,  they 
heard  the  yell  of  combatants,  and  the  rattling  of  arms,  echo- 
ing under  the  arches  of  the  wood,  at  the  place  where  Uncas 
was  posted;  a  bottom  which,  in  a  manner,  lay  beneath  the 
ground  on  which  Hawk-eye  and  his  party  were  contending. 

The  effects  of  this  attack  were  instantaneous,  and  to  the 
scout  and  his  friends  greatly  relieving.  It  would  seem  that, 
while  his  own  surprise  had  been  anticipated,  and  had  conse- 
quently failed,  the  enemy,  in  their  turn,  having  been  de- 
ceived in  its  object  and  in  his  numbers,  had  left  too  small 
a  force  to  resist  the  impetuous  onset  of  the  young  Mohican. 
This  fact  was  doubly  apparent,  by  the  rapid  manner  in 
which  the  battle  in  the  forest  rolled  upward  toward  the  vil- 
lage, and  by  an  instant  falling  off  in  the  number  of  their 
assailants,  who  rushed  to  assist  in  maintaining  the  front, 
and,  as  it  now  proved  to  be,  the  principal  point  of  defence. 

Animating  his  followers  by  his  voice,  and  his  own  exam- 
ple, Hawk-eye  then  gave  the  word  to  bear  down  upon  their 
foes.  The  charge,  in  that  rude  species  of  warfare,  consisted 
merely  in  pushing  from  cover  to  cover,  nigher  to  the  enemy ; 
and  in  this  manoeuvre  he  was  instantly  and  successfully 
obeyed.  The  Hurons  were  compelled  to  withdraw,  and  the 
scene  of  the  contest  rapidly  changed  from  the  more  open 
ground  on  which  it  had  commenced,  to  a  spot  where  the  as- 
sailed found  a  thicket  to  rest  upon.  Here  the  struggle  was 
protracted,  arduous,  and,  seemingly,  of  doubtful  issue;  the 
Delawares,  though  none  of  them  fell,  beginning  to  bleed 
freely,  in  consequence  of  the  disadvantage  at  which  they 
were  held. 

In  this  crisis  Hawk-eye  found  means  to  get  behind  the 
same  tree  as  that  which  served  for  a  cover  to  Hey  ward; 
most  of  his  own  combatants  being  within  call,  a  little  on 
his  right,  where  they  maintained  rapid,  though  fruitless,  dis- 
charges on  their  sheltered  enemies. 


420  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

"  You  are  a  young  man,  major,"  said  the  scout,  dropping 
the  butt  of  "Kill-deer"  to  the  earth,  and  leaning  on  the 
barrel,  a  little  fatigued  with  his  previous  industry;  "and  it 
may  be  your  gift  to  lead  armies,  at  some  future  day,  ag'in 
these  imps,  the  Mingoes.  You  may  here  see  the  philosophy 
of  an  Indian  fight.  It  consists,  mainly,  in  a  ready  hand,  a 
quick  eye,  and  a  good  cover.  Now,  if  you  had  a  company 
of  the  Royal  Americans  here,  in  what  manner  would  you  set 
them  to  work  in  this  business?  " 

"  The  bayonet  would  make  a  road." 

"Ay,  there  is  white  reason  in  what  you  say;  but  a  man 
must  ask  himself,  in  this  wilderness,  how  many  lives  he  can 
spare.  No — horse,"  *  continued  the  scout,  shaking  his  head, 
like  one  who  mused;  "horse,  I  am  ashamed  to  say,  must, 
sooner  or  later,  decide  these  skrimmages.  The  brutes  are 
better  than  men,  and  to  horse  must  we  come  at  last.  Put 
a  shodden  hoof  on  the  moccasin  of  a  red-skin ;  and  if  his 
rifle  be  once  emptied,  he  will  never  stop  to  load  it  again." 

"  This  is  a  subject  that  might  better  be  discussed  another 
time,"  returned  Heyward;   "shall  we  charge?  " 

"  I  see  no  contradiction  to  the  gifts  of  any  man,  in  pass- 
ing his  breathing  spells  in  useful  reflections,"  the  scout  re- 
plied. "As  to  a  rush  I  little  relish  such  a  measure;  for  a 
scalp  or  two  must  be  thrown  away  in  the  attempt.  And 
yet,"  he  added,  bending  his  head  aside,  to  catch  the  sounds 
of  the  distant  combat,  "  if  we  are  to  be  of  use  to  Uncas,  these 
knaves  in  our  front  must  be  got  rid  of!  " 

Then  turning,  with  a  prompt  and  decided  air,  he  called 
aloud  to  his  Indians,  in  their  own  language.  His  words 
were  answered  by  a  shout ;  and,  at  a  given  signal,  each  war- 

*  The  American  forest  admits  of  the  passage  of  horse,  there  being  little  underbrush 
and  few  tangled  brakes.  The  plan  of  Hawk-eye  is  the  one  which  has  always  proved 
the  most  successful  in  the  battles  between  the  whites  and  the  Indians.  Wayne,  in  his 
celebrated  campaign  on  the  Miami,  received  the  fire  of  his  enemies  in  line  ;  and  then 
causing  his  dragoons  to  wheel  round  his  flanks,  the  Indians  were  driven  from  their 
covers  before  they  had  time  to  load.  One  of  the  most  conspicuous  of  the  chiefs  who 
fought  in  the  battle  of  Miami  assured  the  writer,  that  the  red  men  could  not  fight  the 
warriors  with  "long  knives  and  leather  stockings  ;  "  meaning  the  dragoons  with  their 
sabres  and  boots. 


THE   LAST    OF   THE    MOHICANS.  421 

rior  made  a  swift  movement  around  his  particular  tree. 
The  sight  of  so  many  dark  bodies,  glancing  before  their 
eyes  at  the  same  instant,  drew  a  hasty,  and  consequently  an 
ineffectual,  fire  from  the  Hurons.  Without  stopping  to 
breathe,  the  Delawares  leaped,  in  long  bounds,  toward  the 
wood,  like  so  many  panthers  springing  upon  their  prey. 
Hawk-eye  was  in  front,  brandishing  his  terrible  rifle,  and 
animating  his  followers  by  his  example.  A  few  of  the  older 
and  more  cunning  Hurons,  who  had  not  been  deceived  by 
the  artifice  which  had  been  practised  to  draw  their  fire,  now 
made  a  close  and  deadly  discharge  of  their  pieces,  and  jus- 
tified the  apprehensions  of  the  scout,  by  felling  three  of  his 
foremost  warriors.  But  the  shock  was  insufficient  to  repel 
the  impetus  of  the  charge.  The  Delawares  broke  into  the 
cover  with  the  ferocity  of  their  natures,  and  swept  away 
every  trace  of  resistance  by  the  fury  of  the  onset. 

The  combat  endured  only  for  an  instant,  hand  to  hand, 
and  then  the  assailed  yielded  ground  rapidly,  until  they 
reached  the  opposite  margin  of  the  thicket,  where  they  clung 
to  the  cover,  with  the  sort  of  obstinacy  that  is  so  often  wit- 
nessed in  hunted  brutes.  At  this  critical  moment,  when  the 
success  of  the  struggle  was  again  becoming  doubtful,  the 
crack  of  a  rifle  was  heard  behind  the  Hurons,  and  a  bullet 
came  whizzing  from  among  some  beaver  lodges,  which  were 
situated  in  the  clearing,  in  their  rear,  and  was  followed  by 
the  fierce  and  appalling  yell  of  the  war-whoop. 

"  There  speaks  the  Sagamore !  "  shouted  Hawk-eye,  an- 
swering the  cry  with  his  own  stentorian  voice ;  "we  have 
them  now  in  face  and  back!  " 

The  effect  on  the  Hurons  was  instantaneous.  Discour- 
aged by  an  assault  from  a  quarter  that  left  them  no  oppor- 
tunity for  cover,  their  warriors  uttered  a  common  yell  of  dis- 
appointment, and  breaking  off  in  a  body,  they  spread  them- 
selves across  the  opening,  heedless  of  every  consideration 
but  flight.  Many  fell,  in  making  the  experiment,  under  the 
bullets  and  the  blows  of  the  pursuing  Delawares. 


422  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

We  shall  not  pause  to  detail  the  meeting  between  the 
scout  and  Chingachgook,  or  the  more  touching  interview 
that  Duncan  held  with  Munro.  A  few  brief  and  hurried 
words  served  to  explain  the  state  of  things  to  both  parties, 
and  then  Hawk-eye  pointing  out  the  Sagamore  to  his  band, 
resigned  the  chief  authority  into  the  hands  of  the  Mohican 
chief.  Chingachgook  assumed  the  station  to  which  his  birth 
and  experience  gave  him  so  distinguished  a  claim,  with  the 
grave  dignity  that  always  gives  force  to  the  mandates  of  a 
native  warrior.  Following  the  footsteps  of  the  scout,  he  led 
the  party  back  through  the  thicket,  his  men  scalping  the 
fallen  Hurons,  and  secreting  the  bodies  of  their  own  dead 
as  they  proceeded,  until  they  gained  a  point  where  the  for- 
mer was  content  to  make  a  halt. 

The  warriors,  who  had  breathed  themselves  freely  in  the 
preceding  struggle,  were  now  posted  on  a  bit  of  level  ground, 
sprinkled  with  trees  in  sufficient  numbers  to  conceal  them. 
The  land  fell  away  rather  precipitately  in  front,  and  be- 
neath their  eyes  stretched,  for  several  miles,  a  narrow,  dark, 
and  wooded  vale.  It  was  through  this  dense  and  dark  forest 
that  Uncas  was  still  contending  with  the  main  body  of  the 
Hurons. 

The  Mohican  and  his  friends  advanced  to  the  brow  of  the 
hill,  and  listened,  with  practised  ears,  to  the  sounds  of  the 
combat.  A  few  birds  hovered  over  the  leafy  bosom  of 
the  valley,  frightened  from  their  secluded  nests;  and  here 
and  there  a  light  vapory  cloud,  which  seemed  already  blend- 
ing with  the  atmosphere,  arose  above  the  trees,  and  indi- 
cated some  spot  where  the  struggle  had  been  fierce  and  sta- 
tionary. 

"  The  fight  is  coming  up  the  ascent,"  said  Duncan,  point- 
ing in  the  direction  of  a  new  explosion  of  fire-arms,  "we 
are  too  much  in  the  centre  of  their  line  to  be  effective." 

"They  will  incline  into  the  hollow,  where  the  cover  is 
thicker,"  said  the  scout,  "  and  that  will  leave  us  well  on  their 
flank.     Go,  Sagamore ;  you  will  hardly  be  in  time  to  give 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS.  423 

the  whoop,  and  lead  on  the  young  men.  I  will  fight  this 
skrimmage  with  warriors  of  my  own  color.  You  know  me, 
Mohican;  not  a  Huron  of  them  all  shall  cross  the  swell, 
into  your  rear,  without  the  notice  of  '  Killdeer.'  " 

The  Indian  chief  paused  another  moment  to  consider  the 
signs  of  the  contest,  which  was  now  rolling  rapidly  up  the 
ascent,  a  certain  evidence  that  the  Delawares  triumphed: 
nor  did  he  actually  quit  the  place  until  admonished  of  the 
proximity  of  his  friends,  as  well  as  enemies,  by  the  bullets 
of  the  former,  which  began  to  patter  among  the  dried  leaves 
on  the  ground,  like  the  bits  of  falling  hail  which  precede 
the  bursting  of  the  tempest.  Hawk-eye  and  his  three  com- 
panions withdrew  a  few  paces  to  a  shelter,  and  awaited  the 
issue  with  calmness,  that  nothing  but  great  practice  could 
impart  in  such  a  scene. 

It  was  not  long  before  the  reports  of  the  rifles  began  to 
lose  the  echoes  of  the  woods,  and  to  sound  like  weapons  dis- 
charged in  the  open  air.  Then  a  warrior  appeared,  here 
and  there,  driven  to  the  skirts  of  the  forest,  and  rallying  as 
he  entered  the  clearing,  as  at  the  place  where  the  final  stand 
was  to  be  made.  These  were  soon  joined  by  others,  until  a 
long  line  of  swarthy  figures  was  to  be  seen  clinging  to  the 
cover  with  the  obstinacy  of  desperation.  Heyward  began 
to  grow  impatient,  and  turned  his  eyes  anxiously  in  the  di- 
rection of  Chingachgook.  The  chief  was  seated  on  a  rock, 
with  nothing  visible  but  his  calm  visage,  considering  the 
spectacle  with  an  eye  as  deliberate  as  if  he  were  posted  there 
merely  to  view  the  struggle. 

"The  time  is  come  for  the  Delaware  to  strike!  "  said 
Duncan. 

"Not  so,  not  so,"  returned  the  scout;  "when  he  scents 
his  friends,  he  will  let  them  know  that  he  is  here.  See,  see; 
the  knaves  are  getting  in  that  clump  of  pines,  like  bees  set- 
tling after  their  flight.  By  the  Lord,  a  squaw  might  put  a 
bullet  into  the  centre  of  such  a  knot  of  dark  skins !  " 

At  that  instant  the  whoop  was  given,  and  a  dozen  Hurons 


424        THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

fell  by  a  discharge  from  Chingachgook  and  his  band.  The 
shout  that  followed  was  answered  by  a  single  war-cry  from 
the  forest,  and  a  yell  passed  through  the  air  that  sounded 
as  if  a  thousand  throats  were  united  in  a  common  effort. 
The  Hurons  staggered,  deserting  the  centre  of  their  line, 
and  Uncas  issued  from  the  forest  through  the  opening  they 
left,  at  the  head  of  a  hundred  warriors. 

Waving  his  hands  right  and  left,  the  young  chief  pointed 
out  the  enemy  to  his  followers,  who  separated  in  pursuit. 
The  war  now  divided,  both  wings  of  the  broken  Hurons 
seeking  protection  in  the  woods  again,  hotly  pressed  by  the 
victorious  warriors  of  the  Lenape.  A  minute  might  have 
passed,  but  the  sounds  were  already  receding  in  different 
directions,  and  gradually  losing  their  distinctness  beneath 
the  echoing  arches  of  the  woods.  One  little  knot' of  Hu- 
rons, however,  had  disdained  to  seek  a  cover,  and  were  re- 
tiring, like  lions  at  bay,  slowly  and  sullenly  up  the  accliv- 
ity, which  Chingachgook  and  his  band  had  just  deserted,  to 
mingle  more  closely  in  the  fray.  Magua  was  conspicuous 
in  his  party,  both  by  his  fierce  and  savage  mien,  and  by  the 
air  of  haughty  authority  he  yet  maintained. 

In  his  eagerness  to  expedite  the  pursuit,  Uncas  had  left 
himself  nearly  alone;  but  the  moment  his  eye  caught  the 
figure  of  Le  Subtil,  every  other  consideration  was  forgotten. 
Raising  his  cry  of  battle,  which  recalled  some  six  or  seven 
warriors,  and  reckless  of  the  disparity  of  their  numbers,  he 
rushed  upon  his  enemy.  Le  Renard,  who  watched  the  move- 
ment, paused  to  receive  him  with  secret  joy.  But  at  the  mo- 
ment when  he  thought  the  rashness  of  his  impetuous  young 
assailant  had  left  him  at  his  mercy,  another  shout  was  given, 
and  La  longue  Carabine  was  seen  rushing  to  the  rescue,  at- 
tended by  all  his  white  associates.  The  Huron  instantly 
turned,  and  commenced  a  rapid  retreat  up  the  ascent. 

There  was  no  time  for  greetings  or  congratulations ;  for 
Uncas,  though  unconscious  of  the  presence  of  his  friends, 
continued  the  pursuit  with  the  velocity  of  the  wind.     In 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  425 

vain  Hawk-eye  called  to  him  to  respect  the  covers;  the 
young  Mohican  braved  the  dangerous  fire  of  his  enemies, 
and  soon  compelled  them  to  a  flight  as  swift  as  his  own 
headlong  speed.  It  was  fortunate  that  the  race  was  of  short 
continuance,  and  that  the  white  men  were  much  favored  by 
their  position,  or  the  Delaware  would  soon  have  outstripped 
all  his  companions,  and  fallen  a  victim  of  his  own  temerity. 
But  ere  such  a  calamity  could  happen,  the  pursuers  and  pur- 
sued entered  the  Wyandot  village,  within  striking  distance 
of  each  other. 

Excited  by  the  presence  of  their  dwellings,  and  tired  of 
the  chase,  the  Hurons  now  made  a  stand,  and  fought  around 
their  council  lodge  with  the  fury  of  despair.  The  onset  and 
the  issue  were  like  the  passage  and  destruction  of  a  whirl- 
wind. The  tomahawk  of  Uncas,  the  blows  of  Hawk-eye, 
and  even  the  still  nervous  arm  of  Munro,  were  all  busy  for 
that  passing  moment,  and  the  ground  was  quickly  strewed 
with  their  enemies.  Still  Magua,  though  daring  and  much 
exposed,  escaped  from  every  effort  against  his  life,  with 
that  sort  of  fabled  protection  that  was  made  to  overlook  the 
fortunes  of  favored  heroes  in  the  legends  of  ancient  poetry. 
Raising  a  yell  that  spoke  volumes  of  anger  and  disappoint- 
ment, the  subtle  chief,  when  he  saw  his  comrades  fallen, 
darted  away  from  the  place,  attended  by  his  two  only  sur- 
viving friends,  leaving  the  Delawares  engaged  in  stripping 
the  dead  of  the  bloody  trophies  of  their  victory. 

But  Uncas,  who  had  vainly  sought  him  in  the  melde, 
bounded  forward  in  pursuit ;  Hawk-eye,  Heyward,  and  Da- 
vid still  pressing  on  his  footsteps.  The  utmost  that  the 
scout  could  effect  was  to  keep  the  muzzle  of  his  rifle  a  lit- 
tle in  advance  of  his  friend,  to  whom,  however,  it  answered 
every  purpose  of  a  charmed  shield.  Once  Magua  appeared 
disposed  to  make  another  and  a  final  effort  to  revenge  his 
losses;  but,  abandoning  his  intention  as  soon  as  demon- 
strated, he  leaped  into  a  thicket  of  bushes,  through  which 
he  was  followed  by  his  enemies,  and  suddenly  entered  the 


426  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

mouth  of  the  cave  already  known  to  the  reader.  Hawk-eye, 
who  had  only  forborne  to  fire  in  tenderness  to  Uncas,  raised 
a  shout  of  success,  and  proclaimed  aloud  that  now  they 
were  certain  of  their  game.  The  pursuers  dashed  into  the 
long  and  narrow  entrance,  in  time  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the 
retreating  forms  of  the  Hurons.  Their  passage  through 
the  natural  galleries  and  subterraneous  apartments  of  the 
cavern  was  preceded  by  the  shrieks  and  cries  of  hundreds 
of  women  and  children.  The  place,  seen  by  its  dim  and 
uncertain  light,  appeared  like  the  shades  of  the  infernal 
regions,  across  which  unhappy  ghosts  and  savage  demons 
were  flitting  in  multitudes. 

Still  Uncas  kept  his  eye  on  Magua,  as  if  life  to  him  pos- 
sessed but  a  single  object.  Heyward  and  the  scout  still 
pressed  on  his  rear,  actuated,  though  possibly  in  a  less  de- 
gree, by  a  common  feeling.  But  their  way  was  becoming 
intricate,  in  those  dark  and  gloomy  passages,  and  the 
glimpses  of  the  retiring  warriors  less  distinct  and  frequent; 
and  for  a  moment  the  trace  was  believed  to  be  lost,  when  a 
white  robe  was  seen  fluttering  in  the  further  extremity  of  a 
passage  that  seemed  to  lead  up  the  mountain. 

"  'Tis  Cora!"  exclaimed  Heyward,  in  a  voice  in  which 
horror  and  delight  were  wildly  mingled. 

"Cora!  Cora!"  echoed  Uncas,  bending  forward  like  a 
deer. 

"  'Tis  the  maiden !  "  shouted  the  scout.  "  Courage,  lady ; 
we  come! — we  come!  " 

The  chase  was  renewed  with  a  diligence  rendered  tenfold 
encouraging  by  this  glimpse  of  the  captive.  But  the  way 
was  rugged,  broken,  and  in  spots  nearly  impassable.  Un- 
cas abandoned  his  rifle,  and  leaped  forward  with  headlong 
precipitation.  Heyward  rashly  imitated  his  example,  though 
both  were,  a  moment  afterward,  admonished  of  its  madness, 
by  hearing  the  bellowing  of  a  piece,  that  the  Hurons  found 
time  to  discharge  down  the  passage  in  the  rocks,  the  bullet 
from  which  even  gave  the  young  Mohican  a  slight  wound. 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  42/ 

"We  must  close!  "  said  the  scout,  passing  his  friends  by 
a  desperate  leap;  "the  knaves  will  pick  us  all  off  at  this 
distance;  and  see,  they  hold  the  maiden  so  as  to  shield 
themselves! " 

Though  his  words  were  unheeded,  or  rather  unheard,  his 
example  was  followed  by  his  companions,  who,  by  incred- 
ible exertions,  got  near  enough  to  the  fugitives  to  perceive 
that  Cora  was  borne  along  between  the  two  warriors,  while 
Magua  prescribed  the  direction  and  manner  of  their  flight. 
At  this  moment  the  forms  of  all  four  were  strongly  drawn 
against  an  opening  in  the  sky,  and  they  disappeared. 
Nearly  frantic  with  disappointment,  Uncas  and  Heyward 
increased  efforts  that  already  seemed  superhuman,  and  they 
issued  from  the  cavern  on  the  side  of  the  mountain,  in  time 
to  note  the  route  of  the  pursued.  The  course  lay  up  the 
ascent,  and  still  continued  hazardous  and  laborious. 

Encumbered  by  his  rifle,  and  perhaps  not  sustained  by 
so  deep  an  interest  in  the  captive  as  his  companions,  the 
scout  suffered  the  latter  to  precede  him  a  little,  Uncas,  in 
his  turn,  taking  the  lead  of  Heyward.  In  this  manner, 
fqcks,  precipices,  and  difficulties  were  surmounted  in  an 
incredibly  short  space,  that  at  another  time,  and  under  other 
circumstances,  would  have  been  deemed  almost  insuperable. 
But  the  impetuous  young  men  were  rewarded  by  finding 
that,  encumbered  with  Cora,  the  Hurons  were  losing  ground 
xn  the  race. 

"  Stay,  dog  of  the  Wyandots !  "  exclaimed  Uncas,  shaking 
his  bright  tomahawk  at  Magua;  "a  Delaware  girl  calls 
stay !  " 

"  I  will  go  no  further,"  cried  Cora,  stopping  unexpectedly 
on  a  ledge  of  rocks,  that  overhung  a  deep  precipice,  at  no 
great  distance  from  the  summit  of  the  mountain.  "  Kill  me 
if  thou  wilt,  detestable  Huron;  I  will  go  no  further." 

The  supporters  of  the  maiden  raised  their  ready  toma- 
hawks with  the  impious  joy  that  fiends  are  thought  to  take 
in  mischief,  but  Magua  stayed  the  uplifted  arms.      The 


428  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

Huron  chief,  after  casting  the  weapons  he  had  wrested  from 
his  companions  over  the  rock,  drew  his  knife,  and  turned  to 
his  captive,  with  a  look  in  which  conflicting  passions  fiercely 
contended. 

"  Woman,"  he  said,  "choose;  the  wigwam  or  the  knife  of 
Le  Subtil !" 

Cora  regarded  him  not,  but  dropping  on  her  knees,  she 
raised  her  eyes  and  stretched  her  arms  toward  heaven,  say- 
ing, in  a  meek  and  yet  confiding  voice — 

"  I  am  thine!  do  with  me  as  thou  seest  best!  " 

"  Woman,"  repeated  Magua,  hoarsely,  and  endeavoring  in 
vain  to  catch  a  glance  from  her  serene  and  beaming  eye, 
"choose! " 

But  Cora  neither  heard  nor  heeded  his  demand.  The 
form  of  the  Huron  trembled  in  every  fibre,  and  he  raised 
his  arm  on  high,  but  dropped  it  again  with  a  bewildered 
air,  like  one  who  doubted.  Once  more  he  struggled  with 
himself  and  lifted  the  keen  weapon  again — but  just  then  a 
piercing  cry  was  heard  above  them,  and  Uncas  appeared, 
leaping  frantically,  from  a  fearful  height,  upon  the  ledge. 
Magua  recoiled  a  step;  and  one  of  his  assistants,  profiting 
by  the  chance,  sheathed  his  own  knife  in  the  bosom  of 
Cora. 

The  Huron  sprang  like  a  tiger  on  his  offending  and  al- 
ready retreating  countryman,  but  the  falling  form  of  Uncas 
separated  the  unnatural  combatants.  Diverted  from  his  ob- 
ject by  this  interruption,  and  maddened  by  the  murder  he 
had  just  witnessed,  Magua  buried  his  weapon  in  the  back 
of  the  prostrate  Delaware,  uttering  an  unearthly  shout  as  he 
committed  the  dastardly  deed.  But  Uncas  arose  from  the 
blow,  as  the  wounded  panther  turns  upon  his  foe,  and  struck 
the  murderer  of  Cora  to  his  feet,  by  an  effort  in  which  the 
last  of  his  failing  strength  was  expended.  Then,  with  a 
stern  and  steady  look,  he  turned  to  Le  Subtil,  and  indicated, 
by  the  expression  of  his  eye,  all  that  he  would  do,  had  not 
the  power  deserted  him.     The  latter  seized  the  nerveless 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  429 

arm  of  the  unresisting  Delaware,  and  passed  his  knife  into 
his  bosom  three  several  times,  before  his  victim,  still  keep- 
ing his  gaze  riveted  on  his  enemy  with  a  look  of  inextin- 
guishable scorn,  fell  dead  at  his  feet. 

"  Mercy !  mercy !  Huron,"  cried  Hey  ward,  from  above, 
in  tones  nearly  choked  by  horror;  "give  mercy,  and  thou 
shalt  receive  it!  " 

Whirling  the  bloody  knife  up  at  the  imploring  youth,  the 
victorious  Magua  uttered  a  cry  so  fierce,  so  wild,  and  yet  so 
joyous,  that  it  conveyed  the  sounds  of  savage  triumph  to  the 
ears  of  those  who  fought  in  the  valley,  a  thousand  feet  be- 
low. He  was  answered  by  a  burst  from  the  lips  of  the 
scout,  whose  tall  person  was  just  then  seen  moving  swiftly 
toward  him,  along  those  dangerous  crags,  with  steps  as 
bold  and  reckless  as  if  he  possessed  the  power  to  move  h« 
air.  But  when  the  hunter  reached  the  scene  of  the  ruthless 
massacre,  the  ledge  was  tenanted  only  by  the  dead. 

His  keen  eye  took  a  single  look  at  the  victims  and  then 
shot  its  glances  over  the  difficulties  of  the  ascent  in  his 
front.  A  form  stood  at  the  brow  of  the  mountain,  on  the 
very  edge  of  the  giddy  height,  with  uplifted  arms,  in  an  aw- 
ful attitude  of  menace.  Without  stopping  to  consider  his 
person,  the  rifle  of  Hawk-eye  was  raised;  but  a  rock,  which 
fell  on  the  head  of  one  of  the  fugitives  below,  exposed  the 
indignant  and  glowing  countenance  of  the  honest  Gamut. 
Then  Magua  issued  from  a  crevice,  and  stepping  with  calm 
indifference  over  the  body  of  the  last  of  his  associates,  he 
leaped  a  wide  fissure,  and  ascended  the  rocks  at  a  point 
where  the  arm  of  David  could  not  reach  him.  A  single 
bound  would  carry  him  to  the  brow  of  the  precipice,  and 
assure  his  safety.  Before  taking  the  leap,  however,  the 
Huron  paused,  and  shaking  his  hand  at  the  scout,  he 
shouted — 

"  The  pale-faces  are  dogs !  the  Delawares  women !  Magua 
leaves  them  on  the  rocks,  for  the  crows !  " 

Laughing  hoarsely,  he  made  a  desperate   leap,  and  fell 


430  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

short  of  his  mark;  though  his  hands  grasped  a  shrub  on  the 
verge  of  the  height.  The  form  of  Hawk-eye  had  crouched 
like  a  beast  about  to  take  its  spring,  and  his  frame  trembled 
so  violently  with  eagerness,  that  the  muzzle  of  the  half- 
raised  rifle  played  like  a  leaf  fluttering  in  the  wind.  With- 
out exhausting  himself  with  fruitless  efforts,  the  cunning 
Magua  suffered  his  body  to  drop  to  the  length  of  his  arms, 
and  found  a  fragment  for  his  feet  to  rest  on.  Then  sum- 
moning all  his  powers,  he  renewed  the  attempt,  and  so  far 
succeeded  as  to  draw  his  knees  on  the  edge  of  the  moun- 
tain. It  was  now,  when  the  body  of  his  enemy  was  most 
collected  together,  that  the  agitated  weapon  of  the  scout  was 
drawn  to  his  shoulder.  The  surrounding  rocks,  themselves, 
were  not  steadier  than  the  piece  became,  for  the  single  in- 
stant that  it  poured  out  its  contents.  The  arms  of  the  Hu- 
ron relaxed,  and  his  body  fell  back  a  little,  while  his  knees 
still  kept  their  position.  Turning  a  relentless  look  on  his 
enemy,  he  shook  a  hand  in  grim  defiance.  But  his  hold 
loosened,  and  his  dark  person  was  seen  cutting  the  air  with 
its  head  downward,  for  a  fleeting  instant,  until  it  glided 
past  the  fringe  of  shrubbery  which  clung  to  the  mountain, 
in  its  rapid  flight  to  destruction. 


CHAPTER    XXXIII. 

They  fought — like  brave  men,  long  and  well. 

They  piled  that  ground  with  Moslem  slain 
They  conquered — but  Bozzaris  fell, 

Bleeding  at  every  vein. 
His  few  surviving  comrades  saw 
His  smile  when  rang  their  proud  hurrah, 

And  the  red  field  was  won  ; 
Then  saw  in  death  his  eyelids  cTflSe 
Calmly,  as  to  a  night's  repose 

Like  flowers  at  set  of  sun. 

Halleck. 

The  sun  found  the  Lenape,  on  the  succeeding  day,  a 
nation  of  mourners.  The  sounds  of  the  battle  were  over, 
and  they  had  fed  fat  their  ancient  grudge,  and  had  avenged 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  43 1 

their  recent  quarrel  with  the  Mengwe,  by  the  destruction  of 
a  whole  community.  The  black  and  murky  atmosphere  that 
floated  around  the  spot  where  the  Hurons  had  encamped 
sufficiently  announced,  of  itself,  the  fate  of  that  wandering 
tribe;  while  hundreds  of  ravens,  that  struggled  above  the 
bleak  summits  of  the  mountains,  or  swept,  in  noisy  flocks, 
across  the  wide  ranges  of  the  woods,  furnished  a  frightful 
direction  to  the  scene  of  the  combat.  In  short,  any  eye,  at 
all  practised  in  the  signs  of  a  frontier  warfare,  might  easily 
have  traced  all  those  unerring  evidences  of  the  ruthless 
results  which  attend  an  Indian  vengeance. 

Still,  the  sun  rose  on  the  Lenape  a  nation  of  mourners. 
No  shouts  of  success,  no  songs  of  triumph,  were  heard,  in 
rejoicings  for  their  victory.  The  latest  straggler  had  re- 
turned from  his  fell  employment,  only  to  strip  himself  of 
the  terrific  emblems  of  his  bloody  calling,  and  to  join  in 
the  lamentations  of  his  countrymen,  as  a  stricken  people. 
Pride  and  exultation  were  supplanted  by  humility,  and  the 
fiercest  of  human  passions  was  already  succeeded  by  the 
most  profound  and  unequivocal  demonstrations  of  grief. 

The  lodges  were  deserted ;  but  a  broad  belt  of  earnest 
faces  encircled  a  spot  in  their  vicinity,  whither  everything 
possessing  life  had  repaired,  and  where  all  were  now  col- 
lected, in  deep  and  awful  silence.  Though  beings  of  every 
rank  and  age,  of  both  sexes,  and  of  all  pursuits,  had  united 
to  form  this  breathing  wall  of  bodies,  they  were  influenced 
by  a.  single  emotion.  Each  eye  was  riveted  on  the  centre 
of  that  ring,  which  contained  the  objects  of  so  much,  and 
of  so  common,  an  interest. 

Six  Delaware  girls,  with  their  long,  dark,  flowing  tresses 
falling  loosely  across  their  bosoms,  stood  apart,  and  only 
gave  proofs  of  their  existence  as  they  occasionally  strewed 
sweet-scented  herbs  and  forest  flowers  on  a  litter  of  fragrant 
plants,  that,  under  a  pall  of  Indian  robes,  supported  all  that 
now  remained  of  the  ardent,  high-souled,  and  generous 
Cora.     Her  form  was  concealed  in  many  wrappers  of  the 


432  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

same  simple  manufacture,  and  her  face  was  shut  forever 
from  the  gaze  of  men.  At  her  feet  was  seated  the  desolate 
Munro.  His  aged  head  was  bowed  nearly  to  the  earth,  in 
compelled  submission  to  the  stroke  of  Providence;  but  a 
hidden  anguish  struggled  about  his  furrowed  brow,  that  was 
only  partially  concealed  by  the  careless  locks  of  gray  that 
had  fallen,  neglected,  on  his  temples.  Gamut  stood  at  his 
side,  his  meek  head  bared  to  the  rays  of  the  sun,  while  his 
eyes,  wandering  and  concerned,  seemed  to  be  equally  di- 
vided between  that  little  volume  which  contained  so  many 
quaint  but  holy  maxims,  and  the  being  in  whose  behalf  his 
soul  yearned  to  administer  consolation.  Heyward  was  also 
nigh,  supporting  himself  against  a  tree,  and  endeavoring  to 
keep  down  those  sudden  risings  of  sorrow  that  it  required 
his  utmost  manhood  to  subdue. 

But  sad  and  melancholy  as  this  group  may  easily  be  im- 
agined, it  was  far  less  touching  than  another,  that  occupied 
the  opposite  space  of  the  same  area.  Seated  as  in  life, 
with  his  form  and  limbs  arranged  in  grave  and  decent  com- 
posure, Uncas  appeared,  arrayed  in  the  most  gorgeous  orna- 
ments that  the  wealth  of  the  tribe  could  furnish.  Rich 
plumes  nodded  above  his  head;  wampum,  gorgets,  brace- 
lets, and  medals,  adorned  his  person  in  profusion ;  though 
his  dull  eye  and  vacant  lineaments  too  strongly  contradicted 
the  idle  tale  of  pride  they  would  convey. 

Directly  in  front  of  the  corpse  Chingachgook  was 
placed,  without  arms,  paint,  or  adornment  of  any  sort, 
except  the  bright  blue  blazonry  of  his  race,  that  was  in- 
delibly impressed  on  his  naked  bosom.  During  the  long 
period  that  the  tribe  had  been  thus  collected,  the  Mohican 
warrior  had  kept  a  steady,  anxious  look  on  the  cold  and 
senseless  countenance  of  his  son.  So  riveted  and  intense 
had  been  that  gaze,  and  so  changeless  his  attitude,  that 
a  stranger  might  not  have  told  the  living  from  the  dead, 
but  for  the  occasional  gleamings  of  a  troubled  spirit, 
that  shot  athwart  the  dark  visage  of  one,  and  the  death- 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 


433 


like  calm  that  had  forever  settled  on  the  lineaments  of 
the  other. 

The  scout  was  hard  by,  leaning  in  a  pensive  posture  on 
his  own  fatal  and  avenging  weapon;  while  Tamenund,  sup- 
ported by  the  elders  of  his  nation,  occupied  a  high  place  at 
hand,  whence  he  might  look  down  on  the  mute  and  sorrow- 
ful assemblage  of  his  people. 

Just  within  the  inner  edge  of  the  circle  stood  a  soldier, 
in  the  military  attire  of  a  strange  nation;  and  without  it 
was  his  war-horse,  in  the  centre  of  a  collection  of  mounted 
domestics,  seemingly  in  readiness  to  undertake  some  distant 
journey.  The  vestments  of  the  stranger  announced  him  to 
be  one  who  held  a  responsible  situation  near  the  person  of 
the  Captain  of  the  Canadas;  and  who,  as  it  would  now 
seem,  finding  his  errand  of  peace  frustrated  by  the  fierce 
impetuosity  of  his  allies,  was  content  to  become  a  silent  and 
sad  spectator  of  the  fruits  of  a  contest  that  he  had  arrived 
too  late  to  anticipate. 

The  day  was  drawing  to  the  close  of  its  first  quarter,  and 
yet  had  the  multitude  maintained  its  breathing  stillness 
since  its  dawn.  No  sound  louder  than  a  stifled  sob  had 
been  heard  among  them,  nor  had  even  a  limb  been  moved 
throughout  that  long  and  painful  period,  except  to  perform 
the  simple  and  touching  offerings  that  were  made,  from  time 
to  time,  in  commemoration  of  the  dead.  The  patience  and 
forbearance  of  Indian  fortitude  could  alone  support  such  an 
appearance  of  abstraction  as  seemed  now  to  have  turned 
each  dark  and  motionless  figure  into  stone. 

At  length,  the  sage  of  the  Delawares  stretched  forth  an 
arm,  and  leaning  on  the  shoulders  of  his  attendants,  he  arose 
with  an  air  as  feeble  as  if  another  age  had  already  inter- 
vened between  the  man  who  had  met  his  nation  the  preced- 
ing day,  and  him  who  now  tottered  on  his  elevated  stand. 

"Men  of  the  Lenape!"  he  said,  in  hollow  tones,  that 
sounded  like  a  voice  charged  with  some  prophetic  mission; 
"the  face  of  the  Manitto  is  Dehind  a  cloud!  his  eye  is 
28 


434  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

turned  from  you;  his  ears  are  shut;  his  tongue  gives  no 
answer.  You  see  him  not;  yet  his  judgments  are  before 
you.  Let  your  hearts  be  open,  and  your  spirits  tell  no  lie. 
Men  of  the  Lenape!  the  face  of  the  Manitto  is  behind  a 
cloud." 

As  this  simple  and  yet  terrible  annunciation  stole  on  the 
ears  of  the  multitude,  a  stillness  as  deep  and  awful  suc- 
ceeded, as  if  the  venerated  spirit  they  worshipped  had  ut- 
tered the  words  without  the  aid  of  human  organs;  and  even 
the  inanimate  Uncas  appeared  a  being  of  life,  compared 
with  the  humbled  and  submissive  throng  by  whom  he  was 
surrounded.  As  the  immediate  effect,  however,  gradually 
passed  away,  a  low  murmur  of  voices  commenced  a  sort  of 
chant  in  honor  of  the  dead.  The  sounds  were  those  of  fe- 
males, and  were  thrill ingly  soft  and  wailing.  The  words 
were  connected  by  no  regular  continuation,  but  as  one 
ceased  another  took  up  the  eulogy,  or  lamentation,  which- 
ever it  might  be  called,  and  gave  vent  to  her  emotions  in 
such  language  as  was  suggested  by  her  feelings  and  the  oc- 
casion. At  intervals  the  speaker  was  interrupted  by  general 
and  loud  bursts  of  sorrow,  during  which  the.  girls  around 
the  bier  of  Cora  plucked  the  plants  and  flowers  blindly  from 
her  body,  as  if  bewildered  with  grief.  But,  in  the  milder 
moments  of  their  plaint,  these  emblems  of  purity  and  sweet- 
ness were  cast  back  to  their  places,  with  every  sign  of  ten- 
derness and  regret.  Though  rendered  less  connected  by 
many  and  general  interruptions  and  outbreakings,  a  trans- 
lation of  their  language  would  have  contained  a  regular  de- 
scant, which,  in  substance,  might  have  proved  to  possess  a 
train  of  consecutive  ideas. 

A  girl,  selected  for  the  task  by  her  rank  and  qualifica- 
tions, commenced  by  modest  allusions  to  the  qualities  of 
the  deceased  warrior,  embellishing  her  expressions  with 
those  oriental  images  that  the  Indians  have  probably  brought 
with  them  from  the  extremes  of  the  other  continent,  and 
which  form  of  themselves  a  link  to  connect  the  ancient  his- 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS.         435 

tories  of  the  two  worlds.  She  called  him  the  "  panther  of 
his  tribe;  "  and  described  him  as  one  whose  moccasin  left 
no  trail  on  the  dews;  whose  bound  was  like  the  leap  of  the 
young  fawn ;  whose  eye  was  brighter  than  a  star  in  the  dark 
night;  and  whose  voice,  in  battle,  was  loud  as  the  thunder 
of  the  Manitto.  She  reminded  him  of  the  mother  who  bore 
him,  and  dwelt  forcibly  on  the  happiness  she  must  feel  in 
possessing  such  a  son.  She  bade  him  tell  her,  when  they 
met  in  the  world  of  spirits,  that  the  Delaware  girls  had  shed 
tears  above  the  grave  of  her  child,  and  had  called  her 
blessed. 

Then,  they  who  succeeded,  changing  their  tones  to  a 
milder  and  still  more  tender  strain,  alluded,  with  the  deli- 
cacy and  sensitiveness  of  women,  to  the  stranger  maiden, 
who  had  left  the  upper  earth  at  a  time  so  near  his  own  de- 
parture, as  to  render  the  will  of  the  Great  Spirit  too  mani- 
fest to  be  disregarded.  They  admonished  him  to  be  kind 
to  her,  and  to  have  consideration  for  her  ignorance  of  those 
arts  which  were  so  necessary  to  the  comfort  of  a  warriof 
like  himself.  They  dwelt  upon  her  matchless  beauty,  and 
on  her  noble  resolution,  without  the  taint  of  envy,  and  as 
angels  may  be  thought  to  delight  in  a  superior  excellence, 
adding,  that  these  endowments  should  prove  more  than 
equivalent  for  any  little  imperfections  in  her  education. 

After  which,  others  again,  in  due  succession,  spoke  to  the 
maiden  herself,  in  the  low,  soft  language  of  tenderness  and 
love.  They  exhorted  her  to  be  of  cheerful  mind,  and  to 
fear  nothing  for  her  future  welfare.  A  hunter  would  be  her 
companion,  who  knew  how  to  provide  for  her  smallest 
wants ;  and  a  warrior  was  at  her  side  who  was  able  to  pro- 
tect her  against  every  danger.  They  promised  that  her 
path  should  be  pleasant,  and  her  burden  light.  They  cau- 
tioned her  against  unavailing  regrets  for  the  friends  of  her 
youth,  and  the  scenes  where  her  fathers  had  dwelt;  assuring 
her  that  the  "  blessed  hunting  grounds  of  the  Lenape  "  con- 
tained vales   as  pleasant,  streams  as   pure,  and  flowers  as 


436  THE   LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

sweet,  as  the  "Heaven  of  the  pale-faces."  They  advised 
her  to  be  attentive  to  the  wants  of  her  companion,  and  never 
to  forget  the  distinction  which  the  Manitto  had  so  wisely 
established  between  them.  Then,  in  a  wild  burst  of  their 
chant,  they  sang  with  united  voices  the  temper  of  the  Mohi- 
can's mind.  They  pronounced  him  noble,  manly,  and  gen- 
erous ;  all  that  became  a  warrior,  and  all  that  a  maid  might 
love.  Clothing  their  ideas  in  the  most  remote  and  subtle 
images,  they  betrayed,  that,  in  the  short  period  of  their  in- 
tercourse, they  had  discovered,  with  the  intuitive  percep- 
tion of  their  sex,  the  truant  disposition  of  his  inclinations. 
The  Delaware  girls  had  found  no  favor  in  his  eyes!  He 
was  of  a  race  that  had  once  been  lords  on  the  shores  of  the 
salt  lake,  and  his  wishes  had  led  him  back  to  a  people  who 
dwelt  about  the  graves  of  his  fathers.  Why  should  not  such 
predilection  be  encouraged!  That  she  was  of  a  blood  purer 
and  richer  than  the  rest  of  her  nation,  any  eye  might  have 
seen:  that  she  was  equal  to  the  dangers  and  daring  of  a  life 
in  the  woods,  her  conduct  had  proved;  and  now,  they  added, 
the  "  wise  one  of  the  earth  "  had  transplanted  her  to  a  place 
where  she  would  find  congenial  spirits,  and  might  be  for- 
ever happy. 

Then,  with  another  transition  in  voice  and  subject,  allu- 
sions were  made  to  the  virgin  who  wept  in  the  adjacent 
lodge.  They  compared  her  to  flakes  of  snow;  as  pure,  as 
white,  as  brilliant,  and  as  liable  to  melt  in  the  fierce  heats 
of  summer,  or  congeal  in  the  frosts  of  winter.  Th^y  doubted 
not  that  she  was  lovely  in  the  eyes  of  the  young  chief,  whose 
skin  and  whose  sorrow  seemed  so  like  her  own;  but,  though 
far  from  expressing  such  a  preference,  it  was  evident  they 
deemed  her  less  excellent  than  the  maid  they  mourned. 
Still  they  denied  her  no  meed  her  rare  charms  might  prop- 
erly claim.  Her  ringlets  were  compared  to  the  exuberant 
tendrils  of  the  vine,  her  eye  to  the  blue  vault  of  the  heav- 
ens, and  the  most  spotless  cloud,  with  its  glowing  flush  of 
the  sun,  was  admitted  to  be  less  attractive  than  her  bloom. 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  437 

During  these  and  similar  songs  nothing  was  audible  but 
the  murmurs  of  the  music;  relieved,  as  it  was,  or  rather 
rendered  terrible,  by  those  occasional  bursts  of  grief  which 
might  be  called  its  choruses.  The  Delawares  themselves 
listened  like  charmed  men;  and  it  was  very  apparent,  by 
the  variations  of  their  speaking  countenances,  how  deep  and 
true  was  their  sympathy.  Even  David  was  not  reluctant  to 
lend  his  ears  to  the  tones  of  voices  so  sweet;  and  long  ere 
the  chant  was  ended,  his  gaze  announced  that  his  soul  was 
enthralled. 

The  scout,  to  whom  alone,  of  all  the  white  men,  the  words 
were  intelligible,  suffered  himself  to  be  a  little  aroused  from 
his  meditative  posture,  and  bent  his  face  aside,  to  catch 
their  meaning,  as  the  girls  proceeded.  But  when  they  spoke 
of  the  future  prospects  of  Cora  and  Uncas,  he  shook  his 
head,  like  one  who  knew  the  error  of  their  simple  creed,  and 
resuming  his  reclining  attitude,  he  maintained  it  until  the 
ceremony — if  that  might  be  called  a  ceremony,  in  which 
feeling  was  so  deeply  imbued — was  finished.  Happily  for 
the  self-command  of  both  Heyward  and  Munro,  they  knew 
not  the  meaning  of  the  wild  sounds  they  heard. 

Chingachgook  was  a  solitary  exception  to  the  interest 
manifested  by  the  native  part  of  the  audience.  His  look 
never  changed  throughout  the  whole  of  the  scene,  nor  did  a 
muscle  move  in  his  rigid  countenance,  even  at  the  wildest 
or  the  most  pathetic  parts  of  the  lamentation.  The  cold 
and  senseless  remains  of  his  son  was  all  to  him,  and  every 
other  sense  but  that  of  sight  seemed  frozen,  in  order  that 
his  eyes  might  take  their  final  gaze  at  those  lineaments  he 
had  so  long  loved,  and  which  were  now  about  to  be  closed 
forever  from  his  view. 

In  this  stage  of  the  funeral  obsequies,  a  warrior  much 
renowned  for  deeds  in  arms,  and  more  especially  for  services 
in  the  recent  combat,  a  man  of  stern  and  grave  demeanor, 
advanced  slowly  from  the  crowd,  and  placed  himself  nigh 
the  person  of  the  dead. 


43^  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

"  Why  hast  thou  left  us,  pride  of  the  Wapanachki  ?  "  he 
said,  addressing  himself  to  the  dull  ears  of  Uncas,  as  if  the 
empty  clay  retained  the  faculties  of  the  animated  man ; 
"thy  time  has  been  like  that  of  the  sun  when  in  the  trees; 
thy  glory  brighter  than  his  light  at  noon-day.  Thou  art 
gone,  youthful  warrior,  but  a  hundred  Wyandots  are  clear- 
ing the  briers  from  thy  path  to  the  world  of  spirits.  Who 
that  saw  thee  in  battle  would  believe  that  thou  couldst  die? 
Who  before  thee  has  ever  shown  Uttawa  the  way  into  the 
fight?  Thy  feet  were  like  the  wings  of  eagles;  thine  arm 
heavier  than  falling  branches  from  the  p'ine;  and  thy  voice 
like  the  Manitto  when  he  speaks  in  the  clouds.  The  tongue 
of  Uttawa  is  weak,"  he  added,  looking  about  him  with  a 
melancholy  gaze,  "  and  his  heart  exceeding  heavy.  Pride 
of  the  Wapanachki,  why  hast  thou  left  us?  " 

He  was  succeeded  by  others,  in  due  order,  until  most  of 
the  high  and  gifted  men  of  the  nation  had  sung  or  spoken 
their  tribute  of  praise  over  the  manes  of  the  deceased  chief. 
When  each  had  ended,  another  deep  and  breathing  silence 
reigned  in  all  the  place. 

Then  a  low,  deep  sound  was  heard,  like  the  suppressed 
accompaniment  of  distant  music,  rising  just  high  enough 
on  the  air  to  be  audible,  and  yet  so  indistinctly,  as  to  leave 
its  character,  and  the  place  whence  it  proceeded,  alike  mat- 
ters of  conjecture.  It  was,  however,  succeeded  by  another 
and  another  strain,  each  in  a  higher  key,  until  they  grew  on 
the  ear,  first  in  long  drawn  and  often  repeated  interjections, 
and  finally  in  words.  The  lips  of  Chingachgook  had  so  far 
parted,  as  to  announce  that  it  was  the  monody  of  the  father. 
Though  not  an  eye  was  turned  toward  him,  nor  the  smallest 
sign  of  impatience  exhibited,  it  was  apparent,  by  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  multitude  elevated  their  heads  to  listen, 
that  they  drank  in  the  sounds  with  an  intenseness  of  atten- 
tion, that  none  but  Tamenund  himself  had  ever  before  com- 
manded. But  they  listened  in  vain.  The  strains  rose  just 
80  loud  as  to  become  intelligible,  and  then  grew  fainter  and 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  439 

more  trembling,  until  they  finally  sank  on  the  ear,  as  if 
borne  away  by  a  passing  breath  of  wind.  The  lips  of  the 
Sagamore  closed,  and  he  remained  silent  in  his  seat,  look- 
ing, with  his  riveted  eye  and  motionless  form,  like  some 
creature  that  had  been  turned  from  the  Almighty  hand  with 
the  form  but  without  the  spirit  of  a  man.  The  Delawares, 
who  knew  by  these  symptoms  that  the  mind  of  their  friend 
was  not  prepared  for  so  mighty  an  effort  of  fortitude,  re- 
laxed in  their  attention;  and,  with  an  innate  delicacy, 
seemed  to  bestow  all  their  thoughts  on  the  obsequies  of  the 
stranger  maiden. 

A  signal  was  given,  by  one  of  the  elder  chiefs,  to  the 
women,  who  crowded  that  part  of  the  circle  near  which  the 
body  of  Cora  lay.  Obedient  to  the  sign,  the  girls  raised 
the  bier  to  the  elevation  of  their  heads,  and  advanced  with 
slow  and  regulated  steps,  chanting,  as  they  proceeded,  an- 
other wailing  song  in  praise  of  the  deceased.  Gamut,  who 
had  been  a  close  observer  of  rites  he  deemed  so  heathenish, 
now  bent  his  head  over  the  shoulder  of  the  unconscious 
father,  whispering — 

"They  move  with  the  remains  of  thy  child;  shall  we  not 
follow,  and  see  them  interred  with  Christian  burial?  " 

Munro  started,  as  if  the  last  trumpet  had  sounded  in  his 
ear,  and  bestowing  one  anxious  and  hurried  glance  around 
him,  he  arose  and  followed  in  the  simple  train,  with  the 
mien  of  a  soldier,  but  bearing  the  full  burden  of  a  parent's 
suffering.  His  friends  pressed  around  him  with  a  sorrow 
that  was  too  strong  to  be  termed  sympathy — even  the  young 
Frenchman  joining  in  the  procession,  with  the  air  of  a  man 
who  was  sensibly  touched  at  the  early  and  melancholy  fate 
of  one  so  lovely.  But  when  the  last  and  humblest  female 
of  the  tribe  had  joined  in  the  wild  and  yet  ordered  array, 
the  men  of  the  Lenape  contracted  their  circle,  and  formed 
again  around  the  person  of  Uncas,  as  silent,  as  grave,  and 
as  motionless  as  before. 

The  place  which  had  been  chosen  for  the  grave  of  Cora 


44°         THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

was  a  little  knoll,  where  a  cluster  of  young  and  healthful 
pines  had  taken  root,  forming  of  themselves  a  melancholy 
and  appropriate  shade  over  the  spot.  On  reaching  it  the 
girls  deposited  their  burden,  and  continued  for  many  min- 
utes waiting,  with  characteristic  patience,  and  native  timid- 
ity, for  some  evidence  that  they  whose  feelings  were  most 
concerned  were  content  with  the  arrangement.  At  length 
the  scout,  who  alone  understood  their  habits,  said,  in  their 
own  language — 

"  My  daughters  have  done  well ;  the  white  men  thank 
them." 

Satisfied  with  this  testimony  in  their  favor,  the  girls  pro- 
ceeded to  deposit  the  body  in  a  shell,  ingeniously  and  not 
inelegantly  fabricated  of  the  bark  of  the  birch ;  after  which 
they  lowered  it  into  its  dark  and  final  abode.  The  cere- 
mony of  covering  the  remains,  and  concealing  the  marks 
of  the  fresh  earth,  by  leaves  and  other  natural  and  cus- 
tomary objects,  was  conducted  with  the  same  simple  and 
silent  forms.  But  when  the  labors  of  the  kind  beings  who 
had  performed  these  sad  and  friendly  offices  were  so  far 
completed,  they  hesitated,  in  a  way  to  show  that  they  knew 
not  how  much  further  they  might  proceed.  It  was  in  this 
stage  of  the  rites  that  the  scout  again  addressed  them. — 

"  My  young  women  have  done  enough,"  he  said ;  "  the 
spirit  of  a  pale-face  has  no  need  of  food  or  raiment — their 
gifts  being  according  to  the  heaven  of  their  color.  I  see," 
he  added,  glancing  an  eye  at  David,  who  was  preparing  his 
book  in  a  manner  that  indicated  an  intention  to  lead  the 
way  in  sacred  song,  "  that  one  who  better  knows  the  Chris- 
tian fashions  is  about  to   speak." 

The  females  stood  modestly  aside,  and,  from  having  been 
the  principal  actors  in  the  scene,  they  now  became  the  meek 
and  attentive  observers  of  that  which  followed.  During  the 
time  David  was  occupied  in  pouring  out  the  pious  feelings 
of  his  spirit  in  this  manner,  not  a  sign  of  surprise,  nor  a 
look  of  impatience,  escaped  them.    They  listened  like  those 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  44 1 

who  knew  the  meaning  of  the  strange  words,  and  appeared 
as  if  they  felt  the  mingled  emotions  of  sorrow,  hope,  and 
resignation  they  were  intended  to  convey. 

Excited  by  the  scene  he  had  just  witnessed,  and  perhaps 
influenced  by  his  own  secret  emotions,  the  master  of  song 
exceeded  his  usual  efforts.  His  full,  rich  voice  was  not 
found  to  suffer  by  a  comparison  with  the  soft  tones  of  the 
girls;  and  his  more  modulated  strains  possessed,  at  least 
for  the  ears  of  those  to  whom  they  were  peculiarly  ad- 
dressed, the  additional  power  of  intelligence.  He  ended 
the  anthem,  as  he  had  commenced  it,  in  the  midst  of  a 
grave  and  solemn  stillness. 

When,  however,  the  closing  cadence  had  fallen  on  the 
ears  of  his  auditors,  the  secret,  timorous  glances  of  the  eyes, 
and  the  general  and  yet  subdued  movement  of  the  assem- 
blage, betrayed  that  something  was  expected  from  the  father 
of  the  deceased.  Munro  seemed  sensible  that  the  time  was 
come  for  him  to  exert  what  is,  perhaps,  the  greatest  effort  of 
which  human  nature  is  capable.  He  bared  his  gray  locks, 
and  looked  around  the  timid  and  quiet  throng  by  which  he 
was  encircled  with  a  firm  and  collected  countenance.  Then 
motioning  with  his  hand  for  the  scout  to  listen,  he  said — ■ 

"  Say  to  these  kind  and  gentle  females,  that  a  heart- 
broken and  failing  man  returns  them  his  thanks.  Tell 
them,  that  the  Being  we  all  worship,  under  different  names, 
will  be  mindful  of  their  charity ;  and  that  the  time  shall 
not  be  distant  when  we  may  assemble  around  his  throne 
without  distinction  of  sex,  or  rank,  or  color." 

The  scout  listened  to  the  tremulous  voice  in  which  the 
veteran  delivered  these  words,  and  shook  his  head  slowly 
when  they  were  ended,  as  one  who  doubted  their  efficacy. 

"To  tell  them  this,"  he  said,  "would  be  to  tell  them  that 
the  snows  come  not  in  the  winter,  or  that  the  sun  shines 
fiercest  when  the  trees  are  stripped  of  their  leaves." 

Then  turning  to  the  women,  he  made  such  a  communica- 
tion of  the  other's  gratitude  as  he  deemed  most  suited  to  the 


442  THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS. 

capacities  of  his  listeners.  The  head  of  Munro  had  already 
sunk  upon  his  chest,  and  he  was  again  fast  relapsing  into 
melancholy,  when  the  young  Frenchman  before  named  ven- 
tured to  touch  him  lightly  on  the  elbow.  As  soon  as  he  had 
gained  the  attention  of  the  mourning  old  man,  he  pointed 
toward  a  group  of  young  Indians,  who  approached  with  a 
light  but  closely  covered  litter,  and  then  pointed  upward 
toward  the  sun. 

"I  understand  you,  sir,"  returned  Munro,  with  a  voice  of 
forced  firmness;  "I  understand  you.  It  is  the  will  of 
Heaven,  and  I  submit.  Cora,  my  child !  if  the  prayers  of  a 
heartbroken  father  could  avail  thee  now,  how  blessed 
shouldst  thou  be!  Come,  gentlemen,"  he  added,  looking 
about  him  with  an  air  of  lofty  composure,  though  the  an- 
guish that  quivered  in  his  faded  countenance  was  far  too 
powerful  to  be  concealed,  "our  duty  here  is  ended;  let  us 
depart." 

Heyward  gladly  obeyed  a  summons  that  took  them  from 
a  spot  where,  each  instant,  he  felt  his  self-control  was  about 
to  desert  him.  While  his  companions  were  mounting,  how- 
ever, he  found  time  to  press  the  hand  of  the  scout,  and  to 
repeat  the  terms  of  an  engagement  they  had  made,  to  meet 
again  within  the  posts  of  the  British  army.  Then  gladly 
throwing  himself  into  the  saddle,  he  spurred  his  charger  to 
the  side  of  the  litter,  whence  low  and  stifled  sobs  alone  an- 
nounced the  presence  of  Alice.  In  this  manner,  the  head 
of  Munro  again  dropping  on  his  bosom,  with  Heyward  and 
David  following  in  sorrowing  silence,  and  attended  by  the 
aide  of  Montcalm  with  his  guard,  all  the  white  men,  with 
the  exception  of  Hawk-eye,  passed  from  before  the  eyes  of 
the  Delawares,  and  were  soon  buried  in  the  vast  forests  of 
that  region. 

But  the  tie  which,  through  their  common  calamity,  had 
united  the  feelings  of  these  simple  dwellers  in  the  woods 
with  the  strangers  who  had  thus  transiently  visited  them, 
was  not  so  easily  broken.     Years  passed  away  before  the 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  MOHICANS.  443 

traditionary  tale  of  the  white  maiden,  and  of  the  young  war- 
rior of  the  Mohicans,  ceased  to  beguile  the  long  nights  and 
tedious  marches,  or  to  animate  their  youthful  and  brave 
with  a  desire  for  vengeance.  Neither  were  the  secondary 
actors  in  these  momentous  incidents  forgotten.  Through 
the  medium  of  the  scout,  who  served  for  years  afterward  as 
a  link  between  them  and  civilized  life,  they  learned,  in  an- 
swer to  their  inquiries,  that  the  "  Gray  Head  "  was  speedily 
gathered  to  his  fathers —borne  down,  as  was  erroneously 
believed,  by  his  military  misfortunes;  and  that  the  "Open 
Hand "  had  conveyed  his  surviving  daughter  far  into  the 
settlements  of  the  "pale-faces,"  where  her  tears  had  at  last 
ceased  to  flow,  and  had  been  succeeded  by  the  bright  smiles 
which  were  better  suited  to  her  joyous  nature. 

But  these  were  events  of  a  time  later  than  that  which 
concerns  our  tale.  Deserted  by  all  of  his  color,  Hawk-eye 
returned  to  the  spot  where  his  own  sympathies  led  him, 
with  a  force  that  no  ideal  bond  of  union  could  bestow.  He 
was  just  in  time  to  catch  a  parting  look  of  the  features  of 
Uncas,  whom  the  Delawares  were  already  inclosing  in  his 
last  vestments  of  skins.  They  paused  to  permit  the  longing 
and  lingering  gaze  of  the  sturdy  woodsman,  and  when  it 
was  ended,  the  body  was  enveloped,  never  to  be  unclosed 
again.  Then  came  a  procession  like  the  other,  and  the 
whole  nation  was  collected  about  the  temporary  grave  of  the 
chief — temporary,  because  it  was  proper  that,  at  some  future 
day,  his  bones  should  rest  among  those  of  his  own  people. 

The  movement,  like  the  feeling,  had  been  simultaneous 
and  general.  The  same  grave  expression  of  grief,  the  same 
rigid  silence,  and  the  same  deference  to  the  principal  mourn- 
er, were  observed  around  the  place  of  interment  as  have 
been  already  described.  The  body  was  deposited  in  an  at- 
titude of  repose,  facing  the  rising  sun,  with  the  implements 
of  war  and  of  the  chase  at  hand,  in  readiness  for  the  final 
journey.  An  opening  was  left  in  the  shell,  by  which  it  was 
protected  from  the  soil,  for  the  spirit  to  communicate  with 


444  THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS. 

its  earthly  tenement,  when  necessary;  and  the  whole  was 
concealed  from  the  instinct,  and  protected  from  the  ravages 
of  the  beasts  of  prey,  with  an  ingenuity  peculiar  to  the  na- 
tives. The  manual  rites  then  ceased,  and  all  present  re- 
verted to  the  more  spiritual  part  of  the  ceremonies. 

Chingachgook  became  once  more  the  object  of  the  com- 
mon attention.  He  had  not  yet  spoken,  and  something  con- 
solatory and  instructive  was  expected  from  so  renowned  a 
chief  on  an  occasion  of  such  interest.  Conscious  of  the 
wishes  of  the  people,  the  stern  and  self-restrained  warrior 
raised  his  face,  which  had  latterly  been  buried  in  his  robe, 
and  looked  about  him  with  a  steady  eye.  His  firmly  com- 
pressed and  expressive  lips  then  severed,  and  for  the  first 
time  during  the  long  ceremonies  his  voice  was  distinctly 
audible. 

"  Why  do  my  brothers  mourn !  "  he  said,  regarding  the 
dark  race  of  dejected  warriors  by  whom  he  was  environed ; 
"  why  do  my  daughters  weep !  that  a  young  man  has  gone  to 
the  happy  hunting  grounds;  that  a  chief  has  filled  his  time 
with  honor!  He  was  good;  he  was  dutiful;  he  was  brave. 
Who  can  deny  it?  The  Manitto  had  need  of  such  a  war- 
rior, and, he  has  called  him  away.  As  for  me,  the  son  and 
the  father  of  Uncas,  I  am  a  blazed  pine,  in  a  clearing  of  the 
pale-faces.  My  race  has  gone  from  the  shores  of  the  salt 
lake,  and  the  hills  of  the  Delawares.  But  who  can  say  that 
the  serpent  of  his  tribe  has  forgotten  his  wisdom  ?  I  am 
alone " 

"  No,  no,"  cried  Hawk-eye,  who  had  been  gazing  with  a 
yearning  look  at  the  rigid  features  of  his  friend,  with  some- 
thing like  his  own  self-command,  but  whose  philosophy 
could  endure  no  longer;  "no,  Sagamore,  not  alone.  The 
gifts  of  our  colors  may  be  different,  but  God  has  so  placed 
us  as  to  journey  in  the  same  path.  I  have  no  kin,  and  I 
may  also  say,  like  you,  no  people.  He  was  your  son,  and  a 
red-skin  by  nature;  and  it  may  be  that  your  blood  was 
nearer — but  if  ever  I  forget  the  lad  who  has  so  often  fou't 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    MOHICANS.  445 

at  my  side  in  war,  and  slept  at  my  side  in  peace,  may  He 
who  made  us  all,  whatever  may  be  our  color  or  our  gifts, 
forget  me !  The  boy  has  left  us  for  a  time ;  but,  Sagamore, 
you  are  not  alone." 

Chingachgook  grasped  the  hand  that,  in  the  warmth  of 
feeling,  the  scout  had  stretched  across  the  fresh  earth,  and 
in  that  attitude  of  friendship  these  two  sturdy  and  intrepid 
woodsmen  bowed  their  heads  together,  while  scalding  tears 
fell  to  their  feet,  watering  the  grave  of  Uncas  like  drops  of 
falling  rain. 

In  the  midst  of  the  awful  stillness  with  which  such  a 
burst  of  feeling,  coming,  as  it  did,  from  the  two  most  re- 
nowned warriors  of  that  region,  was  received,  Tamenund 
lifted  his  voice  to  disperse  the  multitude. 

"  It  is  enough,"  he  said.  "  Go,  children  of  the  Lenape, 
the  anger  of  the  Manitto  is  not  done.  Why  should  Tame- 
nund stay?  The  pale-faces  are  masters  of  the  earth,  and 
the  time  of  the  red-men  has  not  yet  come  again.  My  day 
has  been  too  long.  In  the  morning  I  saw  the  sons  of  Una- 
mis  happy  and  strong;  and  yet,  before  the  night  has  come, 
have  I  lived  to  see  the  last  warrior  of  the  wise  race  of  the 
Mohicans." 


THE  END. 


